History in Fiction / Working Draft
by Kevin Hodgson · Published 04/04/2016 · Last modified 12/01/2019
Kevin Hodgson’s 6th graders learn about church bombings as he reads from The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963. The students also explore primary sources and write about children in the Civil Rights movement to begin to understand bravery in the face of racism.
Where does humor fit into the classroom? Just about anywhere! Check out these refreshed resources on why humor works, how to share it, and where to find it. Funny math, ELA, social studies, and science resources abound.
Evernote is a 21st century day planner. In Part 4 of his productivity series for school leaders, organization consultant and former principal Frank Buck singles out Evernote as a must-have for collecting school and home information in an easily accessible way.
Even before you view the lessons and become acquainted with the many cross-curricular strategies the authors of Smuggling Writing share, you’ll discover a matrix that unifies the strategies, literacy strands, samples, lessons, digital applications and CCSS.
Future of History / Project Based Learning
by Jody & Shara · Published 03/22/2016 · Last modified 11/25/2019
Project-based learning in history class can be challenging as teachers juggle a content-laden curriculum and limited class time. Shara and Jody and their tech colleague Doug Hinko set out to find practical ways to make PBL work with a unit on medieval China.
Education leaders Ruth Ash and Pat Hodge examine how middle level principals, working with teachers and students, are creating high performing learning cultures using five key leadership practices. It’s not magic, they say, but method, logic, perseverance, and heart.
Reviewer Sherry Drake has already tried the questioning strategies suggested by Jackie Walsh and Beth Sattes to involve middle schoolers of varied abilities in a mini research project. The authors offered just what she needed to engage her students in deeper thinking.
Susan Brooks-Young offers a gateway to designing a Hybrid Mobile Technology Program in any unique school district setting. Her brief book features an abundance of resources, guidelines, and questions, says Joshua Zagorski, a K-12 STEM supervisor and instructional technologist.
Laura Robb believes play is essential to success. Her “Big 10 Student Motivators” can help encourage collaboration, playful learning, innovative thinking, and student engagement in reading, writing, researching, discussing, and analyzing across all subjects.
Research Projects / Working Draft
by Kevin Hodgson · Published 03/06/2016 · Last modified 12/03/2019
Text sets can help kids enrich their studies in any content area. MS teacher Kevin Hodgson tells how teachers are using Library of Congress primary resources to create engaging text sets that help students contextualize the present by exploring the past.
