Education World Lesson Planning Newsletter -- Volume 10, Issue 37

Dear Education Leaders, Welcome! This free weekly Lesson Planning newsletter features summaries of lesson plans recently published on Education World®, the largest free, independent resource on the Web for educators. If you enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to others. If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you may sign up at http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml. To unsubscribe, see instructions at the bottom of this newsletter. Education World remains a free resource thanks to the support of our advertisers -- so please click on ads of interest and visit our advertisers' sites. Thank you. ============================================================================ This week's newsletter is sponsored by Scholastic. Introducing, Scholastic PrintablesTM — the new online service from Scholastic— the most trusted name in learning. Scholastic Printables™ offers all of your favorite teaching resources in one place! With more than 10,000 reproducibles, clip art images, and Leveled Learning Packs to choose from, you are well on your way to enhancing your classroom instruction activities and reaching every student. Visit Scholastic Printables and find out how to access, organize, and customize your teaching resources. ============================================================================ This week's newsletter is sponsored by Online Degree Directory. Further your teaching skills with the latest theories and practices -- get a Master of Arts in Education: Curriculum and Instruction.  You'll learn practical and relevant information you can instantly apply to your classroom. Inspire your students and faculty -- get your Doctoral in Education: Leadership for Higher Education. Programs developed in collaboration with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). And discover more available programs with FREE Information from Online Universities - Online Degree Directory. http://www.educationworld.com/OnlineDegree2.shtml ============================================================================ Volume 10, Issue 37 September 10, 2008 Constitution Day How will you recognize Constitution Day in your classroom? Education World has gathered resources that will help you find the perfect way -- whether you teach kindergarten or college. Dozens of lesson ideas and other resources provide the tools you will need to recognize Constitution Day this year and in years to come. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson347.shtml America's Freedom Documents Ten more lesson ideas for teaching about three important freedom documents -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Included: Activities that involve students in creating time lines and posters, writing new amendments, and much more. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson190.shtml Every-Day Activities Students love routine. Use that fact to your advantage by offering "Every-Day Activities" in one or more of your curriculum areas. These daily activities offer reinforcement and practice, ensure retention, and improve end-of-year test results. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy003.shtml Remembering September 11 Keep alive the spirit of patriotism and tolerance stimulated by 9/11. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson277.shtml More Timely Lesson Ideas Hurricane Watch Ideas for All Year Long Grand Activities for Grandparents Day http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson076.shtml http://www.educationworld.com/back_to_school/index.shtml#ideas http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson136.shtml   Lesson Plan of the Day Click the link above to see dozens of recent Lesson Plans of the Day, including the five lessons below that were posted last week. Civil War - How did soldiers battle boredom? (Grades 3-8) Bullying - Survey students about bullying in your school. (3-8) The Week That Was - An all-year-long writing assignment. (K-12) A New Amendment - Group activity amends the Constitution. (6-12) Simon Says - Highlight studentsÂ' similarities, differences. (K-5) http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/dailylp.shtml   Friday Fun A colorful chain promotes teamwork all year long. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/friday/friday005.shtml Vicki CobbÂ's Show-Biz Science Discover that your arm has bionic strength. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/showbiz_science/showbiz_science029.shtml News for Kids A huge vault on an Arctic island is the new home for billions of seeds. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/newsforyou/newsforyou089.shtml Learning Game of the Week Explore similarities, differences with this twist on Simon Says. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/learninggame/learninggame013.shtml Tech Lesson of the Week How Does It End? A Lesson in Creativity Students use drawing software, such as Paint or AppleWorks, to write and draw the ending to a read-aloud story. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techlp/techlp002.shtml Reader's Theater Writer's Block When his teacher assigns what seems like a simple writing exercise, John discovers heÂ's out of ideas -- until characters from his imagination help him overcome "writer's block." http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reading/ReadersTheater/ReadersTheater017.shtml Writing Lessons Goldilocks: The Sequel Write a sequel to the classic story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." (Grades 3-8) http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/00-2/lp2221.shtml How the Kangaroo Got Its Pouch Create a play based on an Australian kangaroo legend. (Grades 3-5) http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/00-2/lp2133.shtml Writing Bugs Fame, Money, or Power? Fame, money, or power -- which is most important to you? http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug083.shtml A Really Bad Day When was someone upset by something you did -- or did not – do? http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug085.shtml Go Figure The Tall and Short of It Can students figure out the names and heights of eleven students in a line? http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/math/go_figure/go_figure005.shtml Math Mnemonics Roman Numerals for 50, 100, 500, and 1000 http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/mnemonics/mnemonics005.shtml From the Math Machine Send in the Trolls is a fun Web site for teaching about probability. (Grades 2-6) http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/mathmachine/mathmachine017.shtml Box Cars and One-Eyed Jacks Math Games With Joanne and Jane This week: "Factor Find." http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/boxcars/boxcars036.shtml *Early Childhood Center* Rhyme Time This week's poem for Early Childhood educators: An Autumn Rhyme Early Childhood Teaching Themes Apples Baby Animals http://www.educationworld.com/a_earlychildhood/newsletters/ Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans Teacher-Submitted Lesson #1 For Constitution Day, a thoughtful lesson explores the Bill of Rights. Teacher-Submitted Lesson #2 Write a bio poem about Tomie dePaola's Adelita. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/index.shtml Writing Bug What is the best advice you have ever received? http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug086.shtml Bulletin Boards That Teach Following the Rules Quotes of Note -- Use quotes at the start of the school year to inspire your students to success. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bullboard/bullboard022.shtml 5-Minute Fillers Volume #12 http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/fillers.shtml Every-Day Edits Primary Edits Animals A to Z: Camel Ele-Middle Edits Roger Maris, Muppets, NeptuneÂ… http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/animalsAtoZ.shtml http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/edit.shtml Fact Monster Hunts Primary Hunt September Hunt #2 Ele-Middle Hunt Hunt #2 http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/factmonster.shtml Vocab-ulous! Words that begin with E http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/vocabulous/vocabulous020.shtml Work Sheet of the Week "Paragraph Writing" -- comparing and contrasting. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/worksheets/TCM/lang_arts_6_8.shtml Best Books for Teaching AboutÂ… Each week, Education World presents our EditorsÂ' Choices for the best books for teaching about popular classroom themes. Check out our choices and add your own recommendations to the ReadersÂ' Voices section of this weekÂ's themed booklists: Best Books for Teaching About... Constitution Day Hurricanes http://www.educationworld.com/a_bestbooks/archives/students.shtml FROM OUR PRINTABLES LIBRARY Animals A to Z Reinforce capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar skills. (Grades 2-4) http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/animalsAtoZ.shtml Highlights for Children® Hidden Pictures® puzzles, rebus stories, crafts, and more from the folks at Highlights. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/worksheets/Highlights/index.shtml Phonics Word Search Puzzles Thirty-six puzzles teach and reinforce phonics and spelling skills. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/wordsearch.shtml#phonics Calculator Lessons Twenty lessons to engage students as they use their TI-73 Explorer™ calculators. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/calculator_lessons.shtml Just for This Month! See our September Month of Fun, September Word Search, and September Coloring Calendar. PLUS: Create-your-own work sheet templates.   Professor Joe Martin: The Educator Motivator Teachers Must Earn Students' Respect Warning: If you are a new teacher, please do not sabotage your career by making the biggest mistake most teachers make when they first start teaching. What mistake is that, you ask? ItÂ's being a hypocrite. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/martin/martin011.shtml Education Humor With Regina Barreca When Hovering Isn't Helping "Nowhere in my previous column concerning the need for students -- at all stages of their development -- to embrace appropriate independence and autonomy, did I suggest that parents should be barred from interacting with their children or with their children's various instructors." http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/columnists/barreca/barreca032.shtml Doug Johnson's Tech Proof Five For Fun Lots of image "generators" are available on the Web. Most are free and easy to use -- so easy even a technology director can manage them. Here are five of my favorites. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/johnson/johnson029.shtml Alma Row's Gadget of the Week Blabberize Want to have some fun making a picture "talk?" Upload a photo, add sound, animate the mouth, and create your own talking picture. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/gadget/gadget004.shtml Angela Powell: Getting It Together Pockets of Real-World Reading Material Storing a wide variety of authentic, real-world reading materials in a way that is both attractive and child-friendly can be challenging. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/organization/organization005.shtml Cathy Puett Miller: The Reading Coach Sustained Silent Reading in the Classroom Independent silent reading has been a time-honored educational tool. Yet today, many teachers argue that direct instruction is a more effective way to spend studentsÂ' time. What do the experts say? http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reading/ReadingCoach/ReadingCoach005.shtml Bernie Poole Creating Your Own Web Site Eleven easy-to-read handouts designed to lead you and/or your students step-by-step through the process of creating a content-rich education-oriented Web site. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/poole/poole002.shtml Lorrie Jackson's Techtorial Back-to-School Tech Checklist Complete this checklist to ensure that you, your students, and the technology are ready for the new school year. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial081.shtml The Principal Poet Mr. Ivan, Education World's Principal Poet, presents this weekÂ's poem, Â"Locker Clean-Out.Â" Teacher says our lockers Must be cleaned before we go. I guess she hasn't peeked inside My locker, or she'd knowÂ… http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/ivan/ivan034.shtml Partners for Student Success Families Share the Reading Experience, Bolster Reading Skills Reading specialists at one Illinois school approached their parent group and proposed a new project. A "parent-child book discussion group," which would strengthen family connections through a shared reading experience, was a bestseller! http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/partners/partners029.shtml Bidding for Dollars: Online Auctions Help Schools Earn Cash As budgets stretch to the breaking point, many schools are discovering the powerful fundraising possibilities of the auction with a technological twist. Schools and their parent-teacher organizations are capitalizing on the flexibility, convenience, and popularity of online auctions to tap a limitless base of supporters nearby and far away. Included: Simple steps for setting up an online auction. http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin533.shtml Reading Tips Start the Year Off "Write" Research indicates that writing, by engaging students in creating and discovering meaning, improves reading comprehension. Start this year off "write" by encouraging your students to read and write. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reading/tips/tips002.shtml The Writer's Notebook Laura NardiÂ's third graders get the Â"write" idea. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature030.shtml Math Competitions for Students Discover a dozen math competitions, including problem-solving and stock market competitions -- and the world's largest math event. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr145.shtml Thirty Ways to Show Students You Care When a child feels good, he or she learns much more easily. Caring teachers help children improve social and academic skills in a way that allows them to use those skills on their own in the future. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr286.shtml Strategy of the Week Electronic Portfolios Electronic portfolios allow students to save and display sound and video files as well as text and graphics. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy055.shtml Sites to See Autumn Celebrate fall with sites full of K-4 resources on autumn foliage, including printouts, online games, ideas for songs and books, and collaborative projects. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/sites/sites069.shtml Back-to-School Technology Activities Challenge and motivate students with these back-to-school technology activities from the Education World Tech Team. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech141.shtml Behavior and Grades Improve After Fred Jones Training Granite Hills High School freshmen describe behavior and grades improvement after their teacher adopted Fred Jones's Tools for Teaching. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/archives/videooftheweek.shtml What can you do with SchoolNotes? Check out Mr. Coughlin's Class. http://www.schoolnotes.com Tips Library Classroom Management: Easy Seat Assignments Behavior Management: Make-Up Work, Chat Busters Motivating Kids: Engage Them With Props Book Report Makeover: Character Interview Homework Tips: Excuses, Excuses Best Idea: Calendar Art Testing Tips: Just in Time http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/management_tips/management_tips005.shtml http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/behaviortips/behaviortips005.shtml http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/motivation/motivation005.shtml http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bookreport/bookreport005.shtml http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/homeworktips/homeworktips005.shtml http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/bestidea/bestidea005.shtml http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/testing/testing005.shtml   ========================================================================== Sign Up for Our FREE Newsletters Did you know that Education World has ten free newsletters for educators? You're sure to find one or two just right for you! It's easy to sign up (and just as easy to unsubscribe if you don't find valuable ideas each week). Click here for a list of newsletters. http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml#profdev ==========================================================================   This week, Education World reviewed three Web sites of interest to educators. National Sea Grant Library: Digital Libraries Super site about the seas, with an ocean of teaching resources. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0208-25.shtml Exploratorium: Iron Science Teacher A competition between science teachers for the coolest demonstrations. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0208-22.shtml International Space Station: An Interactive Reference Guide Explore the world of the International Space Station. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0208-20.shtml Each week, we ask readers to cast their votes in The Weekly Survey. Cast your vote in this week's question of interest to all educators. This Week's Survey Question A recent report notes that more than 200,000 children were spanked or paddled in U.S. schools last year. Should Corporal Punishmentbe banned in all U.S. schools? http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey182.shtml Last Week's Survey Results Would you be willing to give up tenure and seniority rights for the chance to earn large annual salary increases and bonuses if your students performed well? http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey181.shtml   Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators." Educative Assessment: Designing Assessments to Inform and Improve Student Performance Grant Wiggins is one of the most important education thinkers and writers because he has a unique and logical point of view on a fundamental aspect of school -- assessment. In this book, Wiggins attempts to envision what assessment reform would look like if it were to succeed, and then fleshes out his vision with strong logic and significant detail. Wiggins shows his ability to take the discussion to a higher level in the later chapters of this book by arguing that getting assessment right is not only an education priority but in fact a moral imperative. Click to learn more or to purchase this book. Foreign Language Teacher's Guide to Active Learning This book starts with a grounding in brain research and applies its key concepts to making foreign-language teaching in the middle and high school more active and engaging. With practical activity suggestions and other considerations for teaching to multiple intelligences, activities related to specific themes such as holidays and based on specific creative ideas, like Jeopardy-style games, the book culminates in chapters on alternative assessment and incorporating technology. With foreign-language teaching so often falling into well-worn patterns, and with our national level of language skills lagging far behind other countries, this is a valuable addition to the education bookshelf. Click to learn more or to purchase this book. Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace. ========================================================================== The Best of the WRITING BUG If you enjoy Education World's weekly WRITING BUG feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet with 44 of the most popular Writing Bug story starters. Use these Writing Bug activities to engage your students in effective writing. Each writing prompt will spark students' imaginations, tickle their funny bones, and motivate their pencils. Included: In this booklet you'll find these Writing Bug titles and many more: If I Could Interview Any U.S. President... The Best Lesson I Ever Learned I Got a Postcard from Another Planet A Week Without TV The Best Invention Ever/The Worst Invention Ever Plus 39 more Writing Bug writing prompts! The Best of WRITING BUG is part of the Teacher Treasure Series, an NEA Professional Library Publication. http://store.nea.org/NEABookstore/control/productdetails?&item_id=0695X00 ========================================================================== Education World now incorporates www.SchoolNotes.com ~ "everybody on the same page!" The leading school-to-home communications platform, with FREE pages for teachers and automatic notification of parents and students when new homework is posted! For a modest $24.95 PER YEAR, upgrade to Personal Edition, "Super SchoolNotes," with thousands of resources linked to your state's standards. Click here for more information. ========================================================================== MORE FEATURES OF INTEREST! ReaderÂ's Theater More than two dozen scripts, perfect for the classroom. Best Books for Teaching AboutÂ… Booklists for 30 popular teaching themes. Sign Up for Our Newsletters Ten free newsletters full of practical ideas. Special Education Center Tools for the special education community. TGIF Kick back and start your weekend off on a light note. Education World Techtorials Our tutorials take the terror out of technology. The Template Library A wide variety of templates to meet educators' needs. Wire Side Chats Each week, Education World chats with an expert in the field. Printables Library You're sure to find great resources here. Hundreds of printables! Meet Our Columnists Meet our team of columnists from many corners of the "education world." Teaching Themes for Early Childhood Sue LaBella offers teaching ideas for popular EC themes. Stress Relief Kit Take a deep breath. Then take a look here for great reading. Classroom Management 101 Real teachers share what they are doing to manage real classrooms. News for Kids News of our world written with kids in mind. Teacher's Guide included. ========================================================================== SIGN UP FOR OUR OTHER NEWSLETTERS We hope you enjoy receiving this Education World e-newsletter. Did you know that Education World offers eight other FREE weekly newsletters? Have you signed up to receive the... Education World JOBS NEWSLETTER? For those searching for a job in the education field, you will find new listings of teaching and administration jobs that have been submitted to Education World. Administrators, if you would like to post a position opening, submit it to: http://www.educationworld.com/jobs/submit_job.shtml Would you like to see a sample of the Education World Jobs Newsletter? 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