+ Latin “Connective i” Construct: Decoding Strategies

other topics: use search box

From the Winter 2011 issue of “Academy News,” the newsletter of the Orton Academy (AOGPE), Theresa Collins speaks to teachers of more advanced and ELL learners. 

Collins tells us that

Knowledge of the Latin connective i construct is the key to reading sophisticated Latin-based words. 

 More explicitly:

•  Pronunciation: the connective  i is pronounced as long /e/ before a vowel suffix (“imperious”).
• Pronounce connective i as  /y/ after l or n  (“million,” “genious”).
• Pronounce connective  i  as short /i/ before a consonant (“lexical” or “adventitious”).
• Teach that the i connective also helps a reader to identify the accented syllable (for example, always the syllable before the connective i.)
• Spelling tip:  if you can identify a Latin connective, you’re alerted that this is a Latin word.  So you have clues to spelling the rest of the word.  (e.g. if the word you’re spelling is “victorious,” you know that you shouldn’t  choose an Anglo-Saxon k or ck as you spell it.)
• More spelling: when you hear /y/ before a suffix, spell it with i.  When you hear long /e/ before a suffix, spell it with i .
• When the Latin connective i comes after the letters t, c, s, or x, the combination is pronounced /sh/ or /zh/ (as in “nutritious,” “official,” “confusion” and “anxious”).
• The ti, ci, si, and xi combinations are always used to spell /sh/ in Latin words.
• Syllable stress:  always place the stress in these words on the syllable directly before /sh/.  For example: “delicious,” “obnoxious.”
• A, O, U: these vowels  are always long when they precede /sh/ or /zh/.  Says Collins: these vowels “hold more sound,” and you can hear them when you say (for example) “palatial,” “ferocious,” “crucial.”
• E:  this vowel  is “only half full” and can therefore be pronounced long OR short before the sound /sh/ or /zh/.  Tell students to try saying both to determine the correct choice: “precious,’ “completion.” 
• I: this vowel is always short before the /sh/ sound in (for example) “judicious,” “malicious.”  Writes Collins, you can tell your students it is “little and wimpy and cannot hold any long vowel sound!”

Collins says if  you and your students  are armed with these logical generalizations, you should be ready to decode any Latin-based word.

sole source: Article in the Winter 2011 AOGPE ”Academy News,” by Theresa Collins, F/AOGPE, Director of language Training, The Kildonan School.

The purpose of AOGPE (the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators) is to establish and maintain the highest professional standards for practice of the Orton-Gillingham Approach; to certify practitioners and accredit O-G training programs; and to be active in professional development and public awareness.

Join to access AOGPE’s resources, to support their work, and to recieve this quarterly newsletter. 

Visit http://www.ortonacademy.org

NOTE: Errors are mine! I have supplied some of the above word usage examples where Collins gave none.   I may be incorrect in some of these choices. Please let me know where, why and how to improve those examples!

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021  or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ A Teacher Tip from eNotes

other topics: use search box

One of the many benefits of joining  eNotes.com is Teacher’s Corner. 

In addition to lesson plans, study guides, activities and teacher communities, there are teachers’ “Tips of the Month.”

This February, the new author of Teacher’s Corner is eNotes editor Susan Hurn.

Here are her tips for February.  The topic is “Expect the Unexpected New Student.”

Sometimes, even though the term is well under way, a new student  joins your class unexpectedly.  According to Hurn,  being surprised does not mean having to be unprepared.

She offers these tips to make certain you are ready to welcome the new student.

• You can prepare a “Welcome to Class” packet (make several) and have it ready to hand to any new student.  It might contain a copy of the course syllabus, a description of the class, information about grading, attendance, and class policies.   Include a friendly note introducing yourself.
• Designate a “New Student Pal” for each class.  His or her role will be to welcome the new student, and say “Sit next to me.”  Whoever sits next to the new student pal understands that they will move (you can organize the seating chart later) so the new student immediately has a seat to sit in.   The designated pal can share his or her notes and textbook for the time being.  (Hurn says that her students used to lobby for the job.)
• Have a “Getting to Know You” questionnaire to hand to your new student at the end of this first class.  It is to be returned later.  This shows you are interested in her or him and want to know more about them.  Ask about favorite music, sport, hobby.  Where might you like to go in the world?  What makes you crazy about school; what can I do to help you in class?  These questions allow students to express themselves; they also give you insight into how to help them as they adjust to the new situation.

This “Tip of the Month” can be found on the Teacher’s Corner, February 2011, at http://www.enotes.com.    The site is  an educational resource used by millions of teachers and students.  There are thousands of literature study guides, lesson plans, literary criticism, and a vibrant community that you can join.

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com.

+ More Teacher Tips from Kathy Nunley’s Newsletter

other topics: use search box

• Use a clear “over the door” shoe bag as a holder for supplies like rulers, index cards, golf pencils, etc. to be used and put back by students, writes teacher Deb Hersek from Ohio.
• Foreign language participation points: give each student a sheet with 25 blanks each 6 week term.  Any day they participate in class, they write date, question and their response.  Worth 10% of their grade, says Sabrina Anderson from Texas.
• Have students write one concept learned on a post-it note, then stick it where they regularly line up, or on their lockers.  Other students can then read it over and over.  Again Deb Hersek, Ohio.
• Students can highlight their names on their papers before turning them in; they will not forget to turn them in, says Martha Lambert, from Ohio.
• Teaching long division, use graph paper.  Students place every number in a square, making it easy to align them in columns.  No name, Ohio.
• Make a seating chart with a file folder and post-its so when students are moved, you don’t have to re-write the entire chart.  Barb Taylor, Ohio.
• No chalkboard washing if you use  “Puffs Plus” after erasing.  It really removes chalk dust.  E. McCowan, Ohio
• Red/Green cards give kids time to think: if you turn up the red card, students are instructed to stop and think and wait for the green card to give an answer.  No name, workshop participant, Ohio.
• Dance the vocabulary words!  Victoria Cayuela, Quebec.
• Call students’ parents early in the year (before you “need to”), so you have some rapport with parents as adults with a common interest: their child’s success.  Andaluza Nagy, Ontario.
• Help kids understand that being able to explain, defend and critically think about what they’ve learned or read, they can’t be “bamboozled” or taken advantage of.   They’ll be successful agents in their world.  Jane Bartlett, Parkers Prairie Elementary. 
• Start each morning with a catchy action song or tell some jokes.  No name, Alabama
• First grade students can do a cheer for word wall words.  They stand normally when calling out each regular letter such  as a, c, s;  raise arms for tall letters like l, b, t; and crouch down for letters that go below the line such as y, p, etc.  Engages brain/body connection and keeps students engaged; it’s great for tactile learners and is fun, writes Debra Zanders in Florida.
• Use 3X5 cards for quick assessments – one math problem, say, or a short short essay, or one vocabulary definition.  From workshop participant, Ohio
•  Allow high achievers who finish early to create assignment choices for your next unit.  Michelle Edmonton, Alabama
• Fifth graders have a fraction and decimal of the day for the first 100 days of school.  Day 1 – 1/100 or .o1.  Day 25 — 25/100 (which they reduce to 1/4) or 0.25.  Etc, etc,  Jana Bjelskevig, Michigan
• Keep a bag full of mini jolly ranchers and give one out to a selected volunteer to clean boards, rewrite agendas, vocabulary or (even) wash desks.  No name, Illinois
• The power of the sense of smell: mix play-doh with cool-aid to make it smell good for students to practice spelling: they roll out the dough and form a word.
• Assigning math problems for homework, send home answer sheets too.  Students self-check after every problem or two.  (Doing 20-30 problems incorrectly and not knowing until the next day does more harm than good.) No name.
• Use manipulatives in Spanish to show stems and endings.   Workshop participant, Illinois.



Dr Kathie Nunley’s Educator’s Newsletter arrives monthly (or so) in your email if you subscribe at http://help://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm

Kathie says send her your favorite teaching tips at Kathie@brains.org

tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Teaching With Mysteries

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From Kim Haynes at TeachHub, some suggestions for engaging the interest of students. 

She suggests that you try using Web sites which offer “Five-Minute Mysteries,” for example Mystery Net ( http://www.mysterynet.com/ ) or U-Solve-It Mysteries ( http://www.scholastic-direct.com/usolveit/audiofiles/mm1.asp).  These sites offer very short stories which encourage careful reading or listening.

How about Nancy Drew or Encyclopedia Brown?  Mysteries follow a predictable pattern, but keep the readers guessing.  Haynes suggests Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, or Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

You can get a student’s attention by just making the topic “mysterious.”  Kim Haynes suggests that you ask questions such as ”Why is this species becoming extinct?”  “Who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays?”  Talk about “unexplained events:”  the Loch Ness Monster or the Bermuda Triangle.  (But she warns that you have to be prepared yourself to deal with whatever arises out of such a conversation!)

For practicing math, Haynes suggests Math Maven,           http://teacher.scholastic.com/maven/ ,  a site that offers “capers” that need solving.  Every story is at a particular level of difficulty.  Topics range from whole number operations to geometry and probability. 

For teaching plot structure, just working with mystery stories is useful.  Such stories follow predictable patterns, so concepts such as exposition, “inciting incident,” and rising action are fairly easily observable.

And for adding content knowledge, Haynes suggests http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/histmyst/index.asp for history; http://www.eduweb.com/pintura/ for art; http://www.marshallschools.com/teachers/aldredgel/mystery/ for science.  For more options, Haynes says searching “mystery options” might gather interesting results.  In addition to learning content, these exercises teach tech skills too.

Old fashioned language in classic books can be a challenge for today’s young people.  — Edgar Allan Poe or the Sherlock Holmes stories –these texts can be an entry point into Victorian language.   They are shorter than the Brontes or Austen, and their plots appeal to boys. 

CSI in the classroom?  Science and technology play significant roles in solving crimes.  So take advantage of kids’ fascination with forensic science with some Crime Scene Investigation opportunities at http://www.sciencespot.net/Pages/classforsci.html .

Build writing skills with mysteries’ easily recognizable templates: there are basic character types, basic sequences of events, etc.    Use them to demonstrate setting: many rely on stormy weather and creepy locations to set mood.  Help your students analyze mystery stories and write one of their own. Visit http://www.mysterynet.com/learn/lessonplans/writing.shtml  or http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/everyone-loves-mystery-genre-796.html.

Students learn about research through mysteries — it’s a little known fact that mystery writers do lots of research before they write.  They need to know about law, or medicine, or unusual facts, historical details…  Help your students learn research skills by looking up information.  Ask them to read a story and then do the  research to prove whether the details are accurate.  Haynes warns you though — some crime stories get gory; so use your knowledge of your students and be prepared.

Other suggestions: read a mystery that connects to your subject.  She suggests the Periodic Table Mystery Series by Camille Minichino for science, Suzanne Adair’s Revolutionary War-era mysteries, or Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series set during the period just after World War I. 

sole source: Kim Haynes’s “Elementary My Dear Teacher: Teaching with Mysteries” at http://www.teachhub.com/news/article/cat/14/item/349 .  Visit TeachHub.com for teacher resources of all kinds!

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ More Teaching Tips from Kathie Nunley’s Newsletter

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

• Teacher Irene Phaup makes powerpoint presentations that include common number and letter songs – things they can write from songs they’re hearing.
• Write on the student desks using dry erase markers instead of handing out boards, says Monica Lopez.
• Fun and effective: buy two colored Ping Pong paddles for each child at the dollar store.  Red side means no, green side means yes.  When Darlene Rempel asks questions, students flash the appropriate color — and she can assess quickly who knows what, and who delays to see what others do.
• Use painters’ tape to section off your whiteboard.  Great for graphing in math, and much more.
• Broken left over crayons can be broken into even smaller pieces and placed in silicone bakeware.  Bake at 350 degrees for 3-5 minutes; stir with a wooden stick; let cool and you’ve got — NEW CRAYONS!  –Elizabeth Gutierrez
• Lisa Pehl uses zipper baggies to keep math lab materials together for each student.  (Less chance to lose materials.)
• When a student becomes over stimulated, have them take 10 very deep breaths before they continue.  They will center both mind and body, says Rose Comen.
• Poke a hole in the back of the Kleenex box and hang it from a hook!
• Set up a student table full of supplies they keep asking you for: hole puncher, extra pencils and erasers, staplers, hand sanitizer –  Vickie Harris & Kathy Payne.
• Use a color system for younger students’ progress reports, say the folks at Springs Alive School in Uganda.  Use red, green, red and yellow and color in a bar under each subject.
• Put all your school keys on a carbiner clip so they can hang on your purse strap and not get lost.
• Get a knot out of a shoe lace — use a 4-prong staple remover!
• Get’em moving!  When Tracy Lomax’s students are checking answers for multiple choice questions, they “show” her using a list on the board: A=situps, B=jumping jacks, C=pushups, D= squat jumps.  If the answer is B, they all do jumping jacks. 
• Leslie Benton’s students play test review game with fly swatters.  They either hit the correct answer on the board, or use it as a way to see who gets to answer the questions.

Subscribe to Dr. Kathie Nunley’s newsletter at http://www.help4teachers.com.  You will receive these tips (2 per newsletter), some hot topics in learning research , layered curriculum units, discounted books from the bookshop and information about Kathie’s workshops around the country.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com.

+ More Teaching Tips from Dr Nunley’s Newsletters

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

Here are a collection of recent teacher-suggested tips, from Dr. Kathie Nunley’s Educator Newsletter (subscribe at http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm).

Kathie’s newsletters always include a couple of these teaching tips, some “Hot topics” relating to learning and brain research, and Web updates from  teacher-contributed “Layered Curriculum” units for differentiated teaching in all content areas. 

TIPS

• To monitor who needs help:  give each student a large token — one side green, one side red.  You can glue two pieces of construction paper together.  If the student’s doing just fine, they leave the cards on the green side; but if they get stuck, or need assistance, they switch to red. [Andrea W.]
• Use a shoe organizer on the door for extra supplies.  [No name]
• Once a week require — or provide class time for — a tutorial, a small group study session similar to college.  Using thier notes, students can discuss what was covered in the lesson.  Let students select their own groups.  You can decide whether to assign a monitor.  [Paul Yanchus] 
• Provide small cubbies in the faculty bathroom — one for each teacher to leave personal and grooming materials. [Seen in a school in Canada]]
• To help combat the “code of silence” among adolescents, install a small mailbox outside the school psychologist’s office marked “someone needs help.”  Students may drop anonymous notes when problems or issues need adult intervention.  Students see a difference between “snitching” and seeking help.  [No name]
• Keep spare, clean “hoodies” in your elementary classroom for kids who forget their coats.  [[No name]
• If  you’re teaching with lab or group tables, use a laminated folder with the table number to have students turn in work.  Then pass work back, using the folder.  [Tammy McCown]
• Use a hanging clothes rack (Walmart/Target has them) as a chart hanger.  [No name]
• A third grade teacher in Illinois uses two bottles of hand sanitizer instead of a “germy” bathroom pass.  One for boys, one for girls.  When students leave, they place the bottle on their desk; when they return, they take one squirt and put the bottle back.  [Wendy L.]
• Make every day a new day for every student: no matter what a student may have said, done, or refused to do on the previous day, smile and greet him or her by name the next morning.  You can make a fresh start!  [Rebekah Knudsen-Dalbey]
• Keep a tray by the door so students entering the classroom can pick up whatever worksheet or handout they will need for that class. [M. Sitter]
• Make fun of yourself every so often (kids love it), but never make fun of a student unless they make fun of themselves in front of you.  Humor is crucial, true.  However, students can be sensitive. Model a good balance of humor deployed  sensitively.  [Kristina Peterson]
• Use empty tissue boxes to store plastic grocery bags for the use of students.  [Anna Gorde]
• Don’t write note to students in cursive.  It’s a fact that few people under the age of 30 can read cursive any more.  [No name]
• No more stuck lids on glue bottles — spray them with Pam spray.  [M. Tittle]
• Use sticky notes for students to write one concept they learned in class.  They post them on the door frame as they exit.  [Waine Bourgeois]
• Write antonyms (hot/cold) on milk jug lids.  When assigning partners, hand them out.  Students will quickly find their match.  [Ryan Alston]
• For reluctant or poor readers, hang a cloth book bag on the back of their chair filled with appropriate leveled books. During quiet reading time, they go to the bag and find an interesting book.  [Rhoda Trehearne]
• With a can opener, cut off the top of a Diet Pepsi can.  The heavy weighted bottom of the can now makes this a good pencil holder.  [Student tip!]
• A hands-on math teacher takes pictures of students engaged in the learning task and then prints them off.  Each student then glues it on their Math Learning Journal after writing or drawing a relection about what they learned.  [Carlie Fisher]
• Use dollar-store plastic tablecloths to back a bulletin board display.  They’re cheap, brightly colored, and they don’t fade.  [Darlene Rempel]
• Keep substitute lesson plans for each area of study in case of emergency.  Keep in a hanging file for convenience.  [No name]
• Pair up with a teacher at your local college.  Let your students present their research and projects to their college classes.  [Workshop participant]
• So all members of the community can see the high school as an asset, post your “help hotline” in the newspaper or online.  Anyone, even those without children in the system, can be paired with a student needing community service hours.  [R. Wilson]

Send your favorite teaching tip to Kathie at Kathie@brains.org !

 Kathie’s Bookshop offers the new Layered Curriculum Individual Study Kit, which included a copy of  the Layered Curriculum text and Workbook, A Student’s Brain, as well as a DVD slide presentation personally narrated.  Price;: $89.00.  For this and other aids, visit http://www.brains.org.store

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Parent Conferences: More Tips for Teachers

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From The 2 Sisters at www.thedailycafe.com : they share tips from Trish Prentice.

1. Give parents a photo of their child enjoying a school activity.  A twenty-five cent investment will pay big dividends and begin your conference on a positive note.
2. Want a great way to show parents how special their child is to you?  Try saying something like “One of the things I love best about your child is…”
3. Parent goals — if parents haven’t filled out a goal-setting sheet, ask “What are the goals you have for your child this year?”
4. Assessment results:  explain in plain terms.  Don’t use educational jargon with parents.
5. Share what you’ve started to envision for this child: appropriate goals, strategies to achieve them.  Even if there are only one or two things to say, parents will be impressed that you have considered their child at this level.  (Prentice has a system for teachers called a “Pensive,” a checklist of considerations about each child.) 
6. If there is a problem that needs addressing, use the phrase “We’re continuing to work on…”
7. Listen.  Encourage parents to share their thoughts too.
8. Handouts — it can be hard for parents to absorb and remember everything you’re sharing.  Give them a packet to take home.  Include fun, hands-on activities that parents can do at home with their child.
9. Always end each conference with an invitation for parents to call or email with questions at a later date.

Prentice reminds us that parents sit through only one (two or three?) conferences.  Teachers’ words matter and are replayed in their heads; they share them with neighbors.  So be thoughtful and kind. 

Be the teacher you’d want for your own child.

source: The 2 Sisters newsletter, “The Daily Cafe” at www.thedailycafe.com .  This piece is available to members only, however.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ World Space Week: Web Sites for Teachers

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

October 4-10th is the 10th anniversary of the UN-declared World Space Week, and the theme is “Space for Education.”  The dates are October 4-10, 2009.

From EduHound’s “Classroom Tools & Tips, here are some Web sites for teaching World Space Week.

• World Space Week — World Space Week is the ideal time for you to use space in the classroom to excite students about learning science, technology, engineering and math.  http://www.worldspaceweek.org
• NASA: Educators — NASA’s Education Materials Finder  will help teachers locate resources that can be used in the classroom.  Users may search by keywords, grade level, product type and subject.  http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
• World Book at NASA for Students — Features in-depth entries on eveything from astronauts to spacecraft to the wonders of our solar system and beyond.  http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/wbkids/index.html
• SEGway for Educators — These lessons were designed by both teachers and scientists.  Here you’ll find lessons organized by grade level and topic.  Topics are varied throughout all Earth and Space Science.  Each lesson has a summary with a brief overview of the lesson, its teaching goals, and alignment to standards.   http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/SegwayEd/index.html
• SSERD (Space Science Education Resource Directory) — A searchable, web-based database of space science education resources for K-12 teachers and students, including lesson plans, educator guides, student activities, and websites.  http://teachspacescience.org
• Challenger Center: For Teachers –  Using space as a theme, their programs, resources and lessons get students excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  http://www.challenger.org/teachers/index.cfm
• Amazing Space for Teachers — Provides Teaching Tools, Astronomy Basics, and E/PO Resources.  A description, suggestions for using the resource in the classroom, and related materials accompany each tool.  http://amazing-space.staci.edu/eds

Classroom Tools & Tips also offers this tip:  check out PBS Teachers. 

Not only featuring a new interface, the newly redesigned PBS Teachers site offers educators more searchable content, from across PBS’s educational services.  It also provides easier, quicker ways to find the materials they need for their classroom or home learning environment.  http://www.pbsteachers.org

source: EduHound’s Classroom Tools & Tips, a  newsletter that provides valuable ed tech resources to incorporate into K-12 curriculum.  Educational topics, preformatted templates, technology tutorials and practical tips are featured.  Send your suggestions for topics, or your own templates to share, to Judi Rajala: JRajala@eduhound.com

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Web Sites for Teaching Hispanic Heritage

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From EduHound‘s “Classroom Tools & Tips,”  sites for teaching Hispanic heritage. 

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Carribean, and Central and South America.

• National Hispanic Heritage Month @ The Library of Congress — A portal that brings together the exhibits and features of their various offices that highlight Hispanic Heritage.  http://www.loc.gov/topics/hispanicheritage/
• Hispanic Heritage Month: National Register of Historic Places — This site highlights various properties listed in the National Register, travel itineraries, education lesson plans and National Parks that deal directly with the cultural and political experiences of Hispanic Americans.  http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/features/hispanic/index.htm
• National Hispanic Heritage Month @ EDSITEment — EDSITEment celebrates the history and artistic heritage of the Hispanic people whose cultural heritage has roots in Europe, Africa, and the Americas.  http://edsitement.neh.gov/monthly_feature.asp?id=145
• Smithsonian Latino Center — By facilitating the development of exhibitions, research, collections, and educational programs at the Smithsonian and its affiliated organizations, the Center turns a powerful spotlight on Latino heritage and culture in our country.  http://latino.si.edu/
• NMAH: Mexican America — Features a sampling of objects from the collections of the National Museum of American History (NMAH).  The stories behind these objects reflect the history of the Mexican presence in the United States.  http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/group_detail.cfm?key=1253&gkey=100
• Spanish Colonial Research Center — Contains a computerized data base from Spanish Colonial documents to serve the research needs of the National Park Service’s Spanish Colonial Heritage sites as well as other appropriate federal, state and local organizations.  http://www.nps.gov/history/spca/index.htm

source:  Eduhound’s Classroom Tools & Tips, an EduHound newsletter,  offers valuable ed tech resources to incorporate into K-12 curriculum.  Educational topics, preformatted templates, technology tutorials and practical tips are featured.  Judi Rajala says let her know what topics you’d like covered: JRajala@eduhound.com .  In addition, send your templates.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ More Teacher Tips from Dr Kathie Nunley

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From Kathie Nunley’s Educator Newsletter, my latest batch of  tips sent in to her by  teachers.

• Call on students  using  popsicle sticks with students’ names.  Roz Tampono
• Dry erase markers work great on desks.  Lyndsay Stephens  uses them to label desks when they are being rearranged.
• To clean a permanent-marker marked tag, write over it with  dry erase marker; let dry and wipe. Clara Rodriguez
• Help students understand different perspectives: teach a concept, then move desks and reteach. no name
• At Brooks Academy, James Hamric says they’ve implemented a “house” system (think Harry Potter).  Kids want and ask for points for good performance.
• Use play-dough for students to describe vocabulary words. Emily Petkus
• Place a sticky-note throughout your planner as an occasional reminder to incorporate various learning styles, so you can include an activity in the lesson that reaches one style or another.  no name
• Use cash register receipt paper for a time line. Amanda Stark
• Keep a large bin up front and toss in pens and pencils found in the room or hallways.  It takes ten seconds for students to borrow one from the bin versus ten minutes rummaging or going to the locker.  M. Aubin
• Paper clip reward: each hour there are no rule infractions, a paper clip is added to the “chain.”  When the chain reaches the blackboard ledge, we have a celebration or reward.  Victoria Park
• In a layered classroom, as a “C Layer” assignment option offer a “secretary” position.  The student can type, proofread, copyedit etc. another student’s assignment.  This helps students with learning challenges and benefits the “secretary.”  Kathie   limits each student to no more than 2 secretary jobs per unit.
• Start each day by visualizing the classroom culture that you want to achieve.  Valerie Holland 
• When you all return from lunch, give students 2 minutes to talk to each other before going into routine.  Gets out the “goofy” energy; give you time to take roll, set out work etc.  Kayla Pierce 
• Do (physical) exercises while learning and practicing new spelling words.  Ha Dinh
• Give students laminated name tags for their desks.  When they need 1-1 attention, they put it on the teacher’s desk.
• Hang laminated name tags (see above) on a hook at the board when a child “checks out” to the bathroom.  No asking needed.  no name
• When preparing for an exam, have all students make up their own 10-question test on the material for homework.  Then spend a day having them quiz each other using their self-made tests (which they then turn in).  The “official test” is prepared using a variety of the students’ own questions.  Tom Garrison
• In her elementary music classes, Isabelle Metwalli encourages students to volunteer to read during sight-reading from the board.  She tosses a stuffed bear to students who volunteer.  Lots of kids now volunteer because they love catching the teddy bears.

These tips are not only great element of  the free newsletters from Kathie Nunley.  Each newsletter has two tips and also includes two “Hot Topics,” her answers to questions, website updates, books and publications available, Kathie’s workshop schedules, Layered Classroom curriculum additions, and much more.  Sign up at http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com