Happy Summer!

 

 

 

Hi Everyone!

    Hope you are enjoying your time to slow down and relax,

    During my long teaching career I taught in several types of classrooms: regular,  Self-Contained Special Education and Inclusion. Being a Title I Language Arts teacher was also a large part of my life. Each of these teaching situations were a challenge to my classroom management skills!
     I just received a FACEBOOK message from my sister in North Carolina. She told me that her daughter-in-law had quite her job because they had added two autistic children and three children with severe behavioral disorders to her class. Her objection was that she has had no training in teaching these children, and she has no aide in her room.
  Do you have any input on inclusion...and particularly this situation?
     

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   While searching for information about helping at-risk students, I ran across the following article from the March issue of The New York Times.
     The fact that "children of the rich perform better on standardized tests.
I don't think this is a surprise to anyone, but some of the insights are interesting.
The Great Divide: No Rich Child Left Behind

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     My sister-in-law told me about a book she had just finished. She has worked in the cafeteria of a large urban school for many years and found the information in this book to be true. It is about the food served to our students. (On the cover is a "spork!")
You might want to add it to your summer reading list!

FED UP WITH SCHOOL LUNCH: The School Lunch Project by Sarah Wu also known as Mrs. Q

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Almost every Sunday, my husband reads newspaper articles to me. These are things he thinks I might be able to use in teaching. Here is something  he read last Sunday...Half way through I asked him why we hadn't heard about it...Why wasn't it on T.V.?  He continued reading and I realized it wasn't current events...Interesting!

Seventy-two killed resisting gun confiscation in BostonBOSTON
National guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed on April 19th by elements of a Para-military extremist faction. Military and... law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw.

... Speaking after the clash, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement. Gage blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices. The governor, who described the group's organizers as "criminals," issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the government's efforts to secure law and order. The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed wide-spread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed assault weapons.

Gage issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier in the week. This decision followed a meeting in early this month between government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that "none of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily." Government troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily-armed extremists who had been tipped off regarding the government's plans. During a tense standoff in Lexington 's town park, National Guard Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered the armed group to surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was broken by a single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists. Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange.

Ironically, the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be restored, armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the guard units.

Colonel Smith, finding his forces over matched by the armed mob, ordered a retreat.

Governor Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national joint task force in its effort to restore law and order. The governor also demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and leading the attack against the government troops. Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock, who have been identified as "ringleaders" of the extremist faction, remain at large.

. . . And this, people, is how the American Revolution began .

April 20, 1775

Let us not forget!!!
Any Comments?

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Ginger's Kids

Testing Is Over-Now What?

      Every year about this time we spring into testing mode. As teachers, we want to give our students every particle of information and every strategy that will enable our charges to perform to the best of their ability on the approaching Achievement Tests.

       We all know children can see right through us... They can sense that  we are under pressure... and, try as we might to spare them...we have certainly put them under pressure.

       The day finally comes, testing is over! The sun shines, the air warms, the chirping of birds beckons from outside the open windows. Bees begin to make their occasional appearance inside the classroom sparking a general uproar. How can we compete? 

        There is still much to do...concepts and skills that need refined, reviewed and applied. How, we wonder, do we keep our students actively engaged in learning?

are two suggestions that have proven to keep my students actively engaged any time of the year.

The following are two suggestions that have kept my students interested and involved-suitable for any time of the year.

IDEA I:THE MYSTERIES OF HARRIS BURDICK

by Chris Van Allsburg

Great for Sensory Details

         Chris Van Allsburg is well know as author and illustrator of THE POLAR EXPRESS and JUMANJI. Another, not so famous book of his creation is THE MYSTERIES OF HARRIS BURDICK.

         The book contains fourteen black and white drawings. Each drawing has a title and a caption. A fictional editor’s note (well worth reading!) and more about the book can be found at:

www.goodreads.com › Childrens › Picture Books

I have used this book yearly with my students. They love it!

                     

Sample Pictures

           If the book isn’t in your school library, it can be purchased from AMAZON for as little as $14.34 new, $9.94 used. It is well worth having

　

IDEA II: STORY STARTER COLLAGE

Great for using sensory details in writing.

Materials: A variety of magazines, glue, scissors, sheets of white paper and a transparent paper sleeve ( So that the collage can be reused). 1 teacher-made 5 column chartper student (make ahead of time)

Process:

Option 1: Assemble the "storypages" ahead of time to be distributed -1 per student.

Option 2: Assign students to assemble their own pages with materials available

To assemble pages:

1. Cut out Pictures

•  1 of setting-living room, backyard, school, etc.
• 2 or more of characters-person, animal, toy, etc.
• 1 or more objects important to a story-pipe, watch, broken vase, etc

2. Assenble the collage by gluing pictures on white paper.
3. Ask students to look at the collage then list on their chart: what they can:
             
                see              feel            smell            hear            taste

4. Write a story about the items in the collage, using as many sensory details as possible ( I t is may be best to allow the students to write the story first, then as they revise-add sensory details.)

5. Edit then write Final Draft

   I hope you can use these two ideas. They have proved to keep my students actively engaged at any time of the year.

  Teaching Without the Textbook

     The last ten+ years of my teaching experience were at NEWTON D. BAKER SCHOOL OF ARTS in Cleveland, Ohio. I was officially a writing teacher, but all subjects were taught through the arts. As teachers we  worked closely with, and were mentored by The Ohio State University.  Baker was elected as one of few schools in the U.S. to receive  an Annenburg Grant for the Arts.
     It was impossible to teach through the arts strictly from a textbook, therefore,  we had to create our own lessons. I am adding many of my arts-based lessons, almost daily, to my TpT Store. I have lessons that integrate art with not only writing-but science, social studies and math. All lessons are standards-based and aligned with grade-level curriculum/content. I hope you will take a look.

Also look for numerous FREE items available for download.

 



                   

 

Until next month...HappyTeaching & Happy Testing!

Ginger