Thursday, January 31, 2019

More Interesting Valentine's Day Facts

The first Valentine`s Day candy box was invented by Richard Cadbury in the late 19th century.

On Valentine`s Day every year, there are at least 36 million heart shape boxes of chocolates sold.

There are enough candy hearts made each year to stretch from Valentine, Arizona to Rome, Italy, and back again. The number of these candy hearts produced is approximately 8 billion.

There are approximately 50 million roses given on Valentine`s Day around the world.

There are approximately 1 billion Valentine`s Day cards exchanged every year in the U.S. alone. Valentine`s Day is the second most popular day of the year for sending cards, second only to Christmas.

Cupid is the son of Venus. Venus was the god of beauty and love.


Happy Valentine Day



ReadingIQ


Using Historical Thinking Skills to Analyze the I Have a Dream Speech

The impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. on American society and politics is immeasurable. His efforts to bring equality to all races living in America led to lasting change and still hold an important place in all American history curricula. As we celebrate the legacy of Dr. King on the third Monday of January every year, it is important to find fresh ways to teach our students about his life, while still incorporating some of the essential reading, writing, and thinking skills students need.
Let’s look at Dr. King’s most memorable speech with a focus on historical thinking skills.
Close Reading:
Close reading asks students to determine a source’s point of view and purpose.  For example, Dr. King’s famous I Have a Dream speech includes the sections:
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
Students can break down each line to determine the vision that Dr. King had for his country. They can then summarize the entire section by analyzing the interpretation for each line.
Contextualization:
Contextualizing is the skill that asks students to look at the facts and events surrounding a particular document that may have influenced its creator. To fully understand the context of Dr. King’s message we must look at race relations and segregation in America in 1963. Teaching Tolerance offers a five-lesson teacher’s guide to their film A Time for Justice: America’s Civil Rights Movement which chronicles the civil rights movement from the 1954 ruling in Brown vs. the Board of Education to the 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act. The guide includes primary sources, interactive activities, and the background information that give Dr. King’s words context.
For upper elementary students, Scholastic provides a brief overview of the same era. It provides context for Dr. King’s speech but does not require a lot of class time to convey much of the same information.
Corroboration:
Corroborating a source’s content is when students locate other sources that back up or contradict the source being analyzed. In trying to corroborate Dr. King’s words, students can be presented with various speeches.
Here are two examples:
The first is by Alabama governor George Wallace, that says, in part,
and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever.
The second example is from President John Kennedy, which says:
This afternoon, following a series of threats and defiant statements, the presence of Alabama National Guardsmen was required on the University of Alabama to carry out the final and unequivocal order of the United States District Court of the Northern District of Alabama. That order called for the admission of two clearly qualified young Alabama residents who happened to have been born Negro.
Students should use excerpts of these speeches to corroborate Dr. King’s characterization of a country that is divided and unequal. Students can also use these speeches to make a claim about American society in the 1960s.
Sourcing:
To properly source a document, students must determine if the who, when, and where of a document makes it more or less reliable. All three of our speeches were given in 1963. We know from our contextualizing, that America was in a state of racial turmoil at the time. In our corroborating, we learn that the speeches by President Kennedy and Governor Wallace highlight the issues stated by Dr. King. All sources seem to be a reliable source of history of the time they were created.
Dr. Martin Luther King is a monumental figure in American history. His contributions cannot be overlooked. With some of the sources and activities above, you can honor his work and memory, while still integrating the skills our students need.
Taken from Help Teaching 


March Calendar


February 2019


Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Elementary School New Year Writing Prompts
1.      New Year Expository
      If you had to live this year over again, what would you do differently? What would you do the same? Why?

2.      New Year Reflection
      Think about the kind of person you were two years ago. How have you changed in the last two years? What new things have you learned? Try to predict the kind of person you will be two years from now. How do you think you will have changed?

3.      New Year Story Starter
      Write a New Year story that begins with “Jenny squinted worriedly at the calendar. ‘That can’t be right,’ she thought. ‘It says January 1st, 1968.’”

4.      New Year Narrative
      Write a narrative piece describing your favorite way to celebrate the New Year. What traditions do you like to observe and who would you want to celebrate with?

5.      New Year Expectations
      What are three things you are excited for that are going to happen this next year? When are they going to happen and why do you have to wait?

Middle School New Year Writing Prompts
6.      New Year Reflection
      Think about what happened to you in the last year. What happened that was good and what happened that was bad? Was it a good year overall or a bad year overall? If it was bad, what can you do to try to change it for next year? If it was good, how can you make the next year even better?

7.      New Year’s Resolution List
      Think of a resolution for all of the different parts of your life. Come up with resolutions or goals for your family interactions, your relationships with your friends, your schoolwork, your extracurricular activities and something fun!

8.      New Year Creative Writing Idea
      Write a story about a person who wakes up on January 1st and has lost all of their memories.
High School New Year Writing Topics
9.      New Year Activities
      Write a letter to yourself one year from now. List what you hope to have accomplished by the end of this year and what you think you will be like when you read it.

10.  New Year Resolutions
      Come up with five or six resolutions for the New Year. Write an essay enumerating them, breaking them into manageable goals and explaining how you will attain each goal and how you will keep track of your progress.

11.  New Year Creative Writing Prompt
      Write a story that consists only of a character writing down his or her resolutions for the new year. Try to reveal as much as possible about the character (e.g. history, fears, insecurities, hopes, motivations, goals, relationships, personality traits.)
www.FreeWritingPrompts.net

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Child Safety Protection Month

November is Child Safety Protection Month. The goal of Child Safety Protection Month is to create awareness about the potential dangers children face in everyday situations and to use this new knowledge to prevent any dangers. This also deals with baby safety. As a parent, child safety is something that is often overlooked and relatable to personal safety. We try to protect our kids from all of the dangers of the outside World, but sometimes we forget about the dangers that kids face in their own homes. Childhood accidents put our kids lives at risk.
According to the National Network of Child Care, here’s a few child safety tips and facts that you need to know about, such as:
  • Some foods are difficult to chew such as hot dogs, hard candies and nuts and cause 40% of all childhood choking deaths.
  • Using child safety seats in the rear of the car, not the front seat.
  • Keeping small children away from workout equipment.
  • Putting outlet covers on outlets
http://ocean.happeningmag.com/child-safety-protection-month

Friday, October 26, 2018


20 to 21 Century Learning Comparison
20th Century Model
21st Century Model
MATH
·     Memorization of low level procedures
·     Pattern recognition
·     Ability to perform calculations by hand
·     Speed
·     Accuracy
·     Ability to perform well under pressure
·     Deeply understanding the problem
·     Structuring the problem and representing it symbolically
·     Creative problem solving
·     Pattern recognition to understand which math tools are relevant
·     Adept use of computational resources
·     Critical evaluation of first-pass results
·     Estimation, statistics, and decision-making
·     Taking chances, risking failure, and iterating to refine and perfect
·     Synthesizing results
·     Presenting/communicating complex quantitative information
·     Collaboration
·     Asking questions about complex quantitative information
LANGUAGE ARTS
·     Clear penmanship
·     Proper spelling and grammar
·     Sound vocabulary
·     Ability to read written materials (novels, poems, plays)
·     Ability to write in complete sentences
·     Use sound vocabulary
·     Read a wide variety of written materials (novels, poems, plays, essays, news) critically
·     Communicate clearly across multiple media forms, with a range of styles
·     Form and justify independent bold perspectives
·     Ask thoughtful questions
·     Engage in constructive debate
HISTORY
·     Coverage of important events and figures
·     Ability to recall important historical facts
·     Write short essays clearly recounting historical information
·     Critically analyze historical events and sources
·     Form independent views on dynamics and implications
·     Write clear and thought-provoking theses
·     Ask questions and engage in historical debate
·     Relate historical developments to current issues shaping the world we live in
SCIENCE
·     Cover core disciplines – physics, chemistry, biology
·     Cover key definitions, formulas, and concepts
·     Gain familiarity with basic lab procedures
·     Understand how the world works
·     Be able to form and test scientific hypotheses
·     Be able to ask insightful questions and design experiments
·     Build things based on scientific principles
·     Apply principles across disciplines
·     Develop scientific creativity



Saturday, September 29, 2018

Halloween Treat Bags

Easy to make!!
Grab these adorable labels from Rockin Teaching Resources for FREE to staple onto Halloween treat bags! There are 3 different sizes of Monster Scabs, Witches Warts, Jack O' Lantern Teeth, and Ghost Poop. Students love them!!! Download here:http://bit.ly/2N17FKX

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Sunday, September 16, 2018

First Day of School Selfies

Teachers!!! 
Share your "First Day of School" selfies here! 
Have a great year!


Friday, September 7, 2018

Sunday, September 2, 2018

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