Instructor (1990) articles from September 2006

Instructor (1990) archives from September 2006

Instructor in the Internet age.(from the editors)
September 1, 2006... Lately, when teachers drop by our offices or come in for focus groups, we'll ask them, "How do you use the magazine?" Some go straight for the poster. Others mark it up with colored post-its. One put it simply, "I curl up with it. You can't do...

A long history of helping teachers and kids.(HAPPY BIRTHDAY INSTRUCTOR!)
September 1, 2006... Did you know that your teaching magazine started in 1891? Yes, that not only makes us the oldest teaching magazine, but in fact, one of the oldest continually running magazines in the United States. That's a lot of teaching advice, and a...

How to unleash a writer: again and again, Rene Miles' students win big.(making a difference)(Scholastic Art & Writing Awards )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... When young Jessica Atkinson won a creative writing gold medal in the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards this past May, she was flown to New York to accept a $10,000 prize and meet the press. Who did Jessica bring with her to The...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)
September 1, 2006... My students made these colorful symmetrical animals. First, I asked them to use the Internet to research nursery rhymes. When they'd each picked a favorite, I asked kids to illustrate a main character from the rhyme, making sure their finished...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)
September 1, 2006... In my classroom, no one goes home without a handshake. We've all heard the expression, "Never go to bed angry." Well, I apply that adage to dismissal. My students line up so we can shake hands and say goodbye. If a student feels there's an...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(tips to teach vocabulary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... We play "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" to learn vocabulary. I post all new words on the board. Then I place kids' names on a horizontal axis and money values on a vertical axis. Each time a student uses a word correctly, he or she can fill in...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)
September 1, 2006... We love our official National Wildlife Schoolyard Habitat. Here kids are planting cabbage seedlings. You can find out more about this great program at www.nwf.org/schoolyard. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] --Analda Howell, Winston-Salem, NC

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)
September 1, 2006... I found a great tool for organizing my craft supplies. I take metal popcorn tins (the ones that are popular around the holidays) and fill them with paper-towel tubes. I use the tin for sorting pipe cleaners and paper strips, placing different...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(using flashlights to teach )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... I use a flashlight to light up my phonics lessons. Rather than practicing blending with a pointer, I dim the classroom lights and shine a flashlight on each letter as we say the individual sounds (for example, /c/ - /a/ - /t/). Then I sweep the...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(how to celebrate Constitution Day )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... We celebrate Constitution Day the old-fashioned way. About a week before the day arrives (it's September 18 and celebrates the day the constitution was signed by the founding fathers), we make homemade ink out of berries. We also take shredded...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(to keep classroom clean)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... You'll never find pencils on the floor of my room. That's because we attach them to the desks with Velcro! I stick a 1" strip (the rough side) to the corner of each desk. Then I attach a strip of the soft side to a pencil, just under the...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(teaching using phone books)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... I found a great way to use old phone books. Believe it or not, we read them! I write scavenger-hunt tasks on index cards, such as "List people whose last names are colors" (John Brown, Rosa White), or "Find people whose last names are jobs"...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(to teach words)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Famous works of art are a great venue for talking about word choice. For instance, when looking at Van Gogh's "Starry Night," I have kids describe the swirling blue skies and bright orange stars. Then I flip the activity around--I create a...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(to teach maths)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... My kids get a workout while they add and subtract. I use two large foam dice, and have partners take turns kicking them as far as they can. It doesn't matter where the dice land, because they can't hurt anyone! Once the partners have their two...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)
September 1, 2006... When we study pioneers, we pretend we are at school in 1900. We even have the kids bring lunch from a basket, using a cloth napkin! They have a blast. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] --Pam Bybee, fourth grade, Malta, IL

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(how to teach coordinates)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... We learned coordinates by going on an archeological dig. I roped off a section of the sandbox and buried small pieces of pottery in various spots, marking each with a labeled coordinates sign (using letters and numbers). I then divided the...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(student teacher relations)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... When students are home sick, I send them "get-well" soup. If a child is absent for several days, I clean out an empty soup can (making sure the edges are smooth and safe). I put in small gifts like markers, gel pens, and sticky-note pads....

I took this picture.(idea swap)
September 1, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: "I took this picture of my student (who was actually reading until I came along) because it was just too cute to pass up." --Lauren Roberts, first grade, Columbia, MD

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(how to teach science)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... I know a lot about science, but I don't have all the answers. So I started a "Research Stars" bulletin board. I have students post questions on the board, where they remain until other students research them online. We post the answer on the...

Tips and activities from teachers like you!(idea swap)(how to improve verbal ability)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Packing up for dismissal used to be very noisy. But when our class read about Helen Keller, we discussed creative forms of communication, and I asked kids to try some of them out at the end of the day. They practiced reading lips, using hand...

Red rover moves over.(teachers' lounge)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Kickball banned? Tag on the endangered species list? Schools in Oregon, California, Washington, South Carolina and elsewhere have recently put the kibosh on child's play. Principal Cindy Farwell of Freedom Elementary in Cheyenne, where tag was...

Inside the teaching mind.(teachers' lounge)(Cartoon)
September 1, 2006... On the first day, Mrs. Tadorvich had an inkling that this class might be a little different from last years'. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CARTOON: BY EMILY RICHARDS

Br-rr-ing, br-rr-ing.(DID YOU HEAR?)(ban on using cell phones in school)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... No one wants to be interrupted in the middle of a lesson by a ringtone blaring Eminem (or even Mozart). But should schools ban kids' cell phone use altogether? New York City schools says "yes," but they've got a fight on their hands: Parents...

Teachers' invisible salary deduction.(DID YOU HEAR?)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Is what you spend on your classroom above and beyond the call of duty? According to the NSSEA, the average K-12 teacher this year will spend $826 on needed school supplies, plus $926 on instructional materials out of his or her own pocket....

Honoring the one-room schoolhouse.(DID YOU HEAR?)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... In 1919, there were 190,000 one-room schoolhouses in the U.S. Back then, Instructor devoted many pages to the awesome differentiation challenges faced by rural teachers. Today, there are only 400 one-room schools left. National Public Radio...

The kids are at home.(teachers' lounge)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Homeschooling is on the rise, up 11 percent. Here are some other surprising statistics: * Number of K-12 students who will be homeschooled this year: 1.1 MILLION * Reason most often given for homeschooling by parents: VALUES *...

Playing to learn.(classroom tech)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Wait! Aren't teachers supposed to discourage video games? The research increasingly says no. Video games teach deductive reasoning, memory strategies, and often, content-area knowledge. Teachers like Bill MacKenty, a computer specialist at the...

Web sitings (great kids' sites).(classroom tech)(www.onelook.com)
September 1, 2006... LIVEN UP THEIR VOCABULARIES www.onelook.com isn't your typical online dictionary--it's a search engine. Put in a word and OneLook will search over 900 online dictionaries from the Compact Oxford English Dictionary to Wikipedia. There's...

Web sitings (great kids' sites).(classroom tech)(www.zooweb.com)
September 1, 2006... GO TO THE ZOO www.zooweb.com is where the animals are. It's a great site to locate zoos around the world, and peek into their zoocams. (Check out the new baby panda at the National Zoo).

Web sitings (great kids' sites).(classroom tech)(www.earth.google.com)
September 1, 2006... LOOK DOWN FROM SPACE Are you addicted to Google Earth yet? This revolutionary Web tool uses detailed satellite photographs of every corner of Earth to provide a free, searchable, digital globe. Whether you're teaching about oceans,...

Web sitings (great kids' sites).(classroom tech)(www.americanrevolution.org)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... BRING U.S. HISTORY ALIVE The editors of www.americanrevolution.org have gathered the major documents of the era, timelines, and battle information--with teachers and students in mind. From early American flags to 18th-century dance,...

Q&A how to create your own cyberhunts.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Q My students love webquests, but they never quite match our curriculum. Is there an easy way to do my own? A There's a great Web site from San Diego State University webquest.sdsu.edu designed to help teachers learn how to create...

Where is your white board? 750,000.(classroom tech)
September 1, 2006... The number of interactive whiteboards that have been installed in K-12 classrooms worldwide. Who leads the way? Great Britain. BOTTOM, [c] ROYALTY-FREE/CORBIS

4 BEST BOOKS FOR DINO LOVERS.(Bibliography)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Know a fossil fan or two? From excremental facts to modern-day sitings, here's what to recommend to your would-be paleontologists. Trouble at the Dinosaur Cafe By Brian Moses, illustrated by Garry Parsons. $16.95. Author Moses plays...

4 BEST USA TALES.(Bibliography)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Enrich your history lessons with stories, poetry, fiction, and satire--all with a patriotic bent. The American Story By Jennifer Armstrong, illustrated by Roger Roth. $34.95. Armstrong shares 100 fascinating vignettes from American...

4 BEST WAYS TO SAY "YOU'RE NOT ALONE".(Bibliography)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Show kids one of literature's greatest joys--its ability to show us that we're never the first to tackle a problem. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Opposite By Tom MacRae, illustrated by Elena Odriozola. $15.95. Nate can't seem to get...

4 BEST MAGICAL READS.(Bibliography)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The fantasy craze isn't over yet. In fact the genre just gets better and better. Endymion Spring By Matthew Skelton. $17.95. The stories of a boy who finds a mysterious book and an apprentice to the inventor of the printing press...

Free stuff.
September 1, 2006... Each month we tell you about teacher contests, freebies, and grants, plus goodies just for you. Start at www.scholastic.com/instructor to access all the sites here! Cool Contests Save Those Nature Hike Snapshots Students under 13...

Beyond Dick and Jane: the best new ways to teach reading.(teachers' picks)
September 1, 2006... BEST ANSWER TO "WHAT SHOULD WE DO FOR CENTERS?" Center Stage comes with five instant stations (including our adorable friend above), earning raves from our testers. "Differentiation is the buzz word and this product makes it easy to serve every...

Frida Kahlo: self-portrait.(masterpiece poster)
September 1, 2006... LOOKING IN THE MIRROR Mexican artist Frida Kahlo painted about 55 self-portraits in her lifetime. "I paint myself because I am so often alone," she said. How do students interpret Kahlo's expression in this portrait? Is she proud? sad?...

Quick&easy classroom makeover: ever wish trading spaces would drop by? We asked the experts for simple design ideas that are easy on the pocket-book!
September 1, 2006... So you don't have a fortune to spend and a team of painters and carpenters at your beck and call? Don't worry. Sometimes it's the smallest design changes that make the biggest difference to you and your students. Our experts know the tricks to...

Down with home work: do bulging backpacks mean learning? With his new book, the homework myth, expert Alfie Kohn says no! Here's why.(tough topic)
September 1, 2006... After spending most of the day in school, students are given additional assignments to be completed at home. This is a rather curious fact when you stop to think about it, but not as curious as the fact that few of us ever stop to think about...

50 ways to motivate kids.(Cover story)
September 1, 2006... So often you tell us that motivation is the key to everything you do in the classroom. You want to motivate kids to read, write, and solve problems. You want to inspire them to take pride in a fluently-read paragraph or a simple act of...

Quick math ideas for every day: in five minutes (or less).(grades k-2)
September 1, 2006... Is your new school-year goal to boost math achievement? Establish a math routine with these simple ideas. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * ROLL CALL Have kids count how many students are present. Ask: Is everyone here? Is anyone absent? *...

New uses for old supplies: on a budget? Who isn't?(grades k-2)(teaching techniques)
September 1, 2006... Turn your centers upside down: Six fresh uses for what you already have. PIPE CLEANERS OLD USE: Stems for tissue-paper flowers or antennae for papier-mache bugs. NEW USE: A flexible way to give kids hands-on practice with...

Turn math tools into writing prompts.(grades k-2)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Make left-brained goodies into right-brained delights with these four ideas. * COUNTING BEARS: Give each child a bear or other manipulative. Invite them to brainstorm what the color makes them think of and write a color poem. *...

5 science labs for under $10: you can do it.(grades 3-5)
September 1, 2006... On a beaker budget this year? Teachers Sandra Cvitanovic and Jennifer Williams share wallet-friendly ideas. OH, BABY... BEETLE! WHAT IT TEACHES: Life cycles WHAT YOU NEED: 500 mealworms ($5.00 at PetCo), oatmeal ($1.00), small...

6 games to wake kids up: get their attention.(grades 3-5)
September 1, 2006... Think a child is either born to sit like an angel or fidget constantly? Think again. Research shows attention is a skill that can be taught, like reading. Try these ideas from the new book Attention Games, by Barbara Sher. ALL THE THINGS...

The best vocab games for every kid: multiple intelligences.(grades 6-8)(Reprint)
September 1, 2006... Want to make "photosynthesis" or "personification" stick? Try these ideas from expert David Lund that appeal to kids' different kinds of smarts. BEST FOR: Linguistic Kids IN OTHER WORDS: Strong readers, writers, and speakers; naturals...

Tupac Shakur in Language Arts class? Real-world teaching tools.(grades 6-8)(language arts teacher uses hip-hop music in class)
September 1, 2006... Yes, says Alan Lawrence Sitomer, Los Angeles teacher and author of Hip-Hop Poetry and the Classics and Hip-Hop High School. Here he shares tips for incorporating hip-hop music into your lessons. Let's be honest. Some of your students are...

Tony Danza: actor and talk-show host Tony Danza on the all-out commitment American schools need.(pop quiz)(Interview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... "The Tony Danza Show," recently made over several classrooms across the country, including your old junior high in Brooklyn. So many schools need so much. I hope we were able to do a little good. In one school, we redid the music room. The...