Free Teacher Lesson Plans and Education News

Schwarzenegger: Printed Texts Are Old School

2009-06-24T10:25:00.003-05:00

In the state that gave the world Facebook, Google, and the iPod, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says forcing California's students to rely on printed textbooks is so yesterday.

The governor recently launched an initiative to see if the state's 6 million public school students could use more online learning materials, including open courseware--perhaps saving millions of dollars a year in textbook purchases.

Now, other states will be watching to see how the initiative fares. "California is home to software giants, bioscience research pioneers, and first-class university systems known around the world. But our students still learn from instructional materials in formats made possible by Gutenberg's printing press," Schwarzenegger wrote in a recent op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News.

View the complete article.
(eSchool News 06.12.09)

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States Could Lose Out On Stimulus Cash

2009-06-23T10:28:00.003-05:00

The Obama administration warned states it may withhold millions of dollars if they use stimulus money to plug budget holes instead of boosting aid for schools.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan made the threat last Thursday in a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, but his words could have implications for Texas, Arizona and other states.

And they raise the stakes for the White House, which will come under intense pressure from Congress if Duncan does hold back some money.

In the letter, Duncan wrote he is displeased at a plan by Pennsylvania's Republican-led Senate to reduce the share of the state budget for education while leaving its rainy-day surplus untouched. To do so "is a disservice to our children," Duncan wrote.

View the complete article.
(USA Today 06.22.09)

What should your state be doing with their stimulus cash?
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Free Fourth of July Lesson Plan

2009-06-22T11:40:00.002-05:00

Language Arts, Reading, Vocabulary, Writing, Writing Process, Journaling, Oral Language, Listening, Speaking, Art

Grades 1-4

DOWNLOAD the free worksheet

Objective
The students will write a description of a flag.

Directions
1. Decide whether the whole class will participate in writing a description, or if the students will do so individually.

2. Have the students study the flag they will be describing in their writing. This will be done by either having the entire class view the one flag they will be describing, or by handing out pictures of various flags to each individual student. What colors are in the flag? What symbols are used? Where are the colors and symbols placed in the flag? How would the students write a description of the flag for someone who cannot see it? If this project is being done as a whole class, record their descriptive sentences on chart paper.

3. If older students are doing this project individually, have them keep their flag picture a secret. Once their descriptions are written, display the flag pictures for all the students to view. Then each student may read their description while the rest of the class tries to match the description with the picture.

Extension Ideas
As an alternative to the above, combine a Language Arts Lesson with an Art Lesson. Have the students write a description of the flag they have created during the art lesson. They may want to include a description of the process of creating their flag and what any of the symbols mean.Have a lesson on symbols and what they mean. Discuss the different symbols used in the American Flag. Relate this to symbols used in written language. What do the different punctuation marks mean-- . , ? ! ?

Read the Pledge of Allegiance. A great book to use for this activity is The Pledge of Allegiance by Francis Bellamy (Editor), Scholastic. Make a list of the unknown words and look up their definitions. If desired use "The Pledge of Allegiance" activity sheet (most appropriate for older students).

Resources
-The United States Flag or any other flag. (Pictures of flags may be used as well). If the class will be doing this project individually, have enough pictures of flags so there is one per student. If you do not have a color printer, print out the coloring pages of flags at the Coloring Book Of Flags Web site. Show the students the color picture of their flag and have them quickly fill in the colors before writing their descriptions.
-Free Flag worksheet
-paper
-writing utensils
-chart paper or blackboard (if done as a whole class)

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Free Computer for your Classroom

2009-06-19T13:43:00.004-05:00

Sign up your K-12 education classroom to participate in Acer's K-12 Seed Unit Program!

Thru September, Acer is offering schools a free trial of their ground breaking 10.1" Aspire® One Netbook.

Participating schools can test the systems for 30 days free of charge.

After 30 days, schools then have the option of purchasing the systems substantially below the estimated retail price, or returning the system free of charge (shipping paid by ACER) with no further obligation.

By entering the program, the K-12 customer agrees to have two short conference calls with Acer.

After the first call, at which school technologies and innovative Acer computing solutions will be discussed, each K-12 customer will be shipped an Acer Aspire® One AOD150-1165 Netbook to try out free for 30 days.

Thirty days after delivery of the system, customers will have a second conference call with Acer to discuss their impressions of the products.

K-12 customers can then:

• Purchase the Aspire® One AOD150-1165 at a discount. Only one system is available at the discounted price.

OR

• Return the Aspire® One AOD150-1165 to Acer and owe nothing. Return shipping will be paid by Acer. Please keep the original packaging, you will need this should you decide to return the product.

The Acer K-12 Seed Unit Program runs from March 2009 to September 30, 2009. All Acer K-12 Seed Unit Program applications must be received by August 31, 2009.

Apply online - it takes 1 minute!

Free Resume Writing Lesson Plan for Students

2009-06-19T11:15:00.002-05:00

Hire Me, I'm Nice: Writing a Resume
Writing Process
Grade 5- 8

DOWNLOAD the free worksheet

Objective
Students practice creating resumes.

Directions
Since many students do not yet work, one way to practice resume writing is to have students pick a career they might be interested in pursuing in the future. With the help of the class, list several possible career choices on the board or overhead. Next, pass out sections of the classifieds to the students. Explain how the classifieds are organized. Show students how to find jobs that have been listed on the board. Next, look for jobs that no one has mentioned.

After students have seen what types of jobs are available, you can assign careers in one of two ways:

-Have students look through the classifieds and decide on a job.
-Have students draw from a collection of classified advertisements that you have previously cut out and gathered.

When students decide on jobs, help them determine what type of education, work experience, etc., they will need for the job. Encourage students to be creative and make up whatever information they will need for their resume.

Have students create their own resumes by studying the sample resume on page 51. If students do not have access to a computer, you may want to allow the resumes to be handwritten.

For an optional activity, hand out only five or six different job descriptions to the entire class. This way several students will apply for the same job. Determine which students have the same jobs and set up a date for students to interview for the position. The teacher can act as the employer, or another adult can be invited to the classroom to help with this activity. Have the students interview for the jobs and compare their resumes to determine who gets "hired" for the position.

Use the following information to instruct students about writing a resume:Unless you happen to know a friend or relative who is hiring, getting a job is not always easy. It takes more to get a job than simply being a nice person. Most companies will require you to show how qualified you are for the job you want. Most will want to know your educational background and other job-related experiences that you've had.

Employers do not expect students to have extensive work experience, but they do want a resume that shows you have experience as a leader and that you would be a benefit to the company if they hired you.

Not every job requires a resume. Many jobs only require that you fill out an application. However, it is a good idea to have an updated resume on file at all times so that when a job becomes available that does require a resume, you are ready to go. Remember these helpful hints when writing your own resume:

-A resume lists a person's qualifications for a job.
-It includes a person's name, address, and telephone number.
-It includes a person's educational information and previous work experience.
-Information on a resume should be listed in chronological order, listing the most recent experiences first.

On a resume, do not include your work experience if it is not relative to the job you are trying to get. As a person gains more education, it is no longer necessary to include information such as middle school attended, etc. However, if you are a student in high school and you are trying to get a job as a counselor at a summer camp, this type of information is relevant to your resume.

A resume should always be typed, and it should be no longer than one page. There is no one correct style for a resume, but information should be neatly arranged on the page. Remember that you are trying to persuade someone to hire you, so be sure and emphasize any qualifications you might have that will help you get the job. A student looking for a job may want to include on his or her resume items such as community service or future goals.

Some companies may ask for a written reference from your friends, family, or past employers. A written reference is a letter from someone that recommends you as a good employee or worker. Others may ask for a list of names and phone numbers of your references so that the employer can call and speak personally to the references you have given.

Resources
Sample Resume Worksheet
Computers
Classified Ads - Link to Chicago Tribune

Optional
Career Cruiser - Interview Practice

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Is Bilingual Education Best for American Students?

2009-06-18T13:24:00.003-05:00

I watched the piece featured below on the Today Show this morning that presents the pros and the cons of bilingual instruction in U.S. public schools. This is an ongoing debate, some feel that Hispanic students are better off being completely immersed in English so they may adapt to an English speaking nation- while others fear that teaching only in English limits what students will learn and will subsequently fall behind.

The Hispanic population is growing rapidly and is playing a significant role in American society and the workforce. Public schools in cities such as Charlotte, NC have embraced teaching students both English and Spanish and are reporting positive results. Where do you stand on this debate? Watch the piece below and let me know what you think- share your comments in Twitter and on our Facebook Page.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

School Grant Recipients Listed by State

2009-06-17T09:55:00.003-05:00

Duncan Announces $18.5 Million to Improve School Libraries and Increase Reading in Low-Income Schools

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the award of $18.5 million to enhance libraries in 57 low-income school districts across the United States.

The grants will help schools improve reading achievement by providing students with increased access to current school library materials; technologically advanced media centers; and professionally certified media specialists.

Funded through the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, grants can be used to acquire books and other library holdings; improve school libraries' technological resources and capabilities; facilitate Internet links and other resource-sharing networks; provide professional development for library personnel; enhance opportunities for collaboration among library specialists, teachers and administrators; and expand hours of access to library services.

Below is a list of the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grant recipients:

AK -- Kuspuk School District, $453,404
AK -- Yukon Flats School District, $299,479
AR -- Blytheville, $302,600
AR -- Little Rock School District, $325,557
AR -- Pocahontas School District, $219,911.
AZ -- Ecadamie High School, $238,118
AZ -- Santa Cruz County RSD #99, $381,931
CA -- Dinuba Unified School District, $466,779
CA -- Round Valley Unified School District, $246,046
CO -- City and County of Denver, $479,359
CT -- Waterbury School District, $500,000
FL -- Holmes District School Board, $215,236
GA -- Marietta Independent School District, $295,945
IL -- Chicago Heights School District 170, $587,519
IL -- Chicago Public Schools, District #299, $498,034
IL -- East St. Louis School District 189, $408,302
KY -- Letcher County Public Schools, $332,297
LA -- NOLA 180 - Langston Hughes Academy, $161,142
LA -- Webster Parish School Board, $498,149
MA -- Springfield Public Schools, $298,222.
ME -- Maine School Administrative District 43, $407,543
ME -- Waterville Public Schools, $243,646
MS -- Gulfport School District, $322,786
NC -- Bladen County Schools, $495,381
ND -- Warwick School District 29, $340,451
NY -- Board of Education, Buffalo NY, $238,934
NY -- Copenhagen Central School District, $135,000
NY -- Hornell City School District, $298,936
NY -- Rochester City School District, $300,000
NY -- Salamanca City Central School District, $273,189
NY -- Utica City School District, $230,864
OK -- Atoka Public Schools, $121,896
OK -- Cottonwood Public Schools, $175,954
OK -- Eufaula Public Schools, $185,562
OK -- Hominy Public School, $191177
OK -- Hulbert Public Schools, $167,800
OK -- Panama Public School, $299,967
OK -- Stratford Public School District I002, $152,613
OK -- Tulsa Public Schools, $487,647
PA -- Allentown City School District, $455,474
PA -- Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter HS, $177,357
PA -- Oswayo Valley School District, $292,706
PA -- Williamsport Area School District, $250,000
SC -- Florence School District One, $498,688
SD -- Eagle Butte School District 20-1, $286,117
TN -- Bedford County Schools, $422,327
TN -- Campbell County School District, $189,158
TN -- Fentress County Board of Education, $387,851
TX -- Chilton Schools, $329,095
TX -- Everman Independent School District, $340,000
TX -- Galveston ISD, $500,000
TX -- Ingram Independent School District, $296,571
TX -- Navasota ISD -- Grant Services, $369,876
TX -- Pleasanton Independent School District, $499,992
WI -- Milwaukee Public Schools, $500,000
WI -- School District of Bayfield, $209,838
WI -- School District of Westfield, $264,610

Learn more about this program.
Source: U.S. Department of Education

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Summertime Science Activities for Kids

2009-06-16T17:45:00.002-05:00

The Cure for Summertime Boredom

Summer vacation is the perfect time to take on some fun and educational Science projects with your child. Conducting fun and safe experiments are a wonderful way to fight off summertime boredom and challenge young minds with analytical thinking and creative problem solving.

Discovering that science is fun is a meaningful way to spend time during school breaks- and perhaps help boost self esteem and a desire for learning! You don’t need a lot of money or resources to be able to have some summertime science fun with your child. Here are some ideas from Science Fair Sanity to get you started to create your very own Science Camp from home:

Expand and Contract
Can you blow up a balloon without blowing into it?

Purpose: To blow up a balloon without blowing into it.
Materials: Empty 2-liter soft-drink plastic bottle, balloon, hot water, ice, deep
bowl, and record page.

Experiment
Put the balloon over the mouth of the bottle. Draw balloons on the record page to show what you think will happen when you put the bottle in hot water and in ice.

Hold the bottle down in a bowl of hot water. What happened? Empty the hot water from the bowl and fill it with ice. What happened?

Record the actual results on the prediction page. Fill in the page as follows:

The hot water made the balloon (fill in the blank)

The ice made the balloon (fill in the blank)

Results: The air in the bottle was warmed by the hot water. Warm air expands. This made the balloon inflate.

The ice cooled the air in the bottle. Cool air shrinks. The balloon deflated.

Capillary Action
Demonstrate osmosis and capillary action

Purpose
To demonstrate osmosis and capillary action.

Materials
A couple of stalks of celery, three small glasses, food coloring, a knife, and a microscope if possible.

Experiment
Mix blue food coloring into a glass of water. Place a stalk of celery into the glass. The food coloring will begin to move up the stalk within a few hours. It will reach the top by morning.

The water moving up the celery is called capillary action. In trees and roots it is called osmosis.

Growing Bacteria

Purpose
To grow bacteria and study their characteristics.

Materials
Slice of boiled potato and a Tupperware container.

Experiment
Place the potato in the Tupperware container and leave it uncovered in a warm room. After a few hours, place the lid on the container and put it in a warm place where it will not be bothered.

In a few days, observe the potato. You should notice several spots have formed. These spots are
colonies of bacteria.

**This bacteria is harmless, but some types of bacteria cause diseases. Where did the bacteria
come from? How does this affect hygiene and health?

Other Ideas:

Consider letting your child set up and maintain their own ant habitat. This fascinating project teaches your child lessons in responsibility and basic ecology.

Research this list of Science Activity Books for even more science activities you can do with your child. These books are filled with activities to teach concepts in biology, chemistry, physics, physical science, earth science, space science, and anatomy.

Do you have some great Science project ideas to share? We would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or reply to us in Twitter or Facebook!

What is the Value of $125,000-a-Year Teachers?

2009-06-16T12:38:00.003-05:00

So what kind of teachers could a school get if it paid them $125,000 a year?

An accomplished violist who infuses her music lessons with the neuroscience of why one needs to practice, and creatively worded instructions like, “Pass the melody gently, as if it were a bowl of Jell-O!”

A self-described “explorer” from Arizona who spent three decades honing her craft at public, private, urban and rural schools.

Two with Ivy League degrees.

And Joe Carbone, a phys ed teacher, who has the most unusual résumé of the bunch, having worked as Kobe Bryant’s personal trainer.

They are members of an eight-teacher dream team, lured to an innovative charter school that will open in Washington Heights in September with salaries that would make most teachers drop their chalk and swoon; $125,000 is nearly twice as much as the average New York City public school teacher earns, and about two and a half times as much as the national average for teacher salaries. They also will be eligible for bonuses, based on schoolwide performance, of up to $25,000 in the second year.

Are you worth $125,000 a year? Tell us why (or why not)...
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View the complete article.
(New York Times 06.04.09)

Six Flags Great America Discount Code

2009-06-04T14:09:00.003-05:00

Six Flags Great America is extending a special offer to all Chicago Public School employees this summer.

June 19, 20 and 21 will be Chicago Public Schools Employee Appreciation Days at Six Flags Great America - Chicago.

All CPS employees are invited to visit Six Flags Great America on one of these days, for the discounted admission price of $26, which is less than a half-price ticket!

One dollar from each ticket purchased by CPS employees, through this exclusive offer, will benefit Chicago Public Schools.

Offer details:

· You may purchase a ticket for June 19, 20 or 21, 2009. Tickets are valid on one day only.

· Tickets are available online only at SixFlags.com. Enter the promo code CPS in the upper right-hand corner and pick the park Six Flags Great America, Chicago.

· Tickets can be purchased between May 29 and June 21.

· CPS employees can print the tickets at the time of purchase, and must present tickets for park admission.

· The $26 ticket price is tax inclusive, and the $5 processing fee per order has been waived. Children aged two and younger are admitted free of charge.

· For park-related questions, contact the Six Flags Great America sales department at (847) 249-1952.

· For questions related to a ticket order, contact (407) 956-3594.

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Free Father's Day Lesson Plan

2009-05-29T09:35:00.003-05:00

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The Story of Last Names
Social Studies and Ancient History
Grade 3- 5

DOWNLOAD FREE ACTIVITY SHEET

Objective
Students learn about the origins of last names in Medieval times.

Directions
Introduce to students "The Story of Last Names."

A long time ago, four men named Thomas lived in a little town. That was the only name any of them had. In those days, only kings and nobles had last names; most men and women had only first names.Because the men had the same name, here's how people told them apart.

One Thomas had a father named John, so he was called "Thomas, John's son." Another Thomas, a baker, was called "Thomas the Baker." The third Thomas had light-colored hair, so he was known as "Thomas the White." And the fourth Thomas lived next to the village green, so he was known to everyone as "Thomas of the Green."Time went on. Thomas the Baker married a girl named Elaine. She became known as "Elaine, Thomas the Baker's wife." They had a little boy named John, and he was known as "John, Thomas the Baker's son." But after a while, people got tired of saying all those words. So they simply called Thomas the Baker, "Thomas Baker." His wife became Elaine Baker, and their son was John Baker.

That's how last names came to be. People took their fathers' first names, the names of their fathers' jobs, the names of the places where they lived, or names that told how they looked. They put these names after their first names. When a man married, his wife and children took his last name. Sometimes, a widow or single woman might adopt children and give them her last name. So, today, our last names can tell us something about the people we got them from long ago.

Ask students to pay close attention to see if their last names are on one of the following lists.

Here are some examples of patronymics, last names that come from first names:

Adding son or sen
Adding s
Adding es, ez, or is

Andersen
Fredricks
Davis
Davidson
Matthews
Harris
Jackson
Phillips
Hernandez
Johnson
Roberts
Hughes
Robertson
Stephens
Jones
Wilson
Walters
Rodriguez

People who spoke different languages sometimes added sohn, wicz, vich, or ak to the end of a name. All of these mean "son." People from some countries put son in front of their fathers' names. Mac, Mc, and Fitz all mean "son of."

Here are examples of some last names that came from the jobs that people held:

Blacksmith
Ferraro
Herrera
Kovacs
Kowalski

Cart Driver
Carter
Porter
Wagner

Making Bread
Baker
Baxter
Fournier

Grinding Wheat
Mueller
Miller
Molinaro

Making Clothes
Schneider
Snider
Taylor

Here are some last names that were taken from the places where people lived:

By a Hill
Barrows
Downs
Hill
Hillman

By a Stream
Arroyo
Brooks
Rivera

Near a Small Forest
Atwood
DuBois
Hurst
Shaw
Wood and Woods

By a Grassy Field
Knowles
Field and Fields
Mead
Meadows

By a Castle
Castello
Borg
Castillo
Zamechi

By a Main Road
Estrada
Lane
Strass
Streeter

Here are some names that were taken from the way people looked:

White Hair
Bannon
Blanchard
Whitehead
Whitlock
Whitman

New Person
Doran
Doyle
Newcomb
Newman

Curly Hair
Cassidy
Krause
Kruse
Rizzo

Tall Person
Lang
Long
Longfellow

Short Person
Bass
Basset
Hoch

Red Hair
Flynn
Reed
Russell

Happy Person
Gay
Merriman
Murray
Here are some names that described animal characteristics:

Wolf
Lupo
Wolfe

Fox
Fox
Volpe

Kinds of Birds
Coe
Crane
Crowe

Deer
Buck
Roe

Bear
Baer

Lion
Leon
Lyon
Lowe

Dragon
Drake

Distribute the What's in a Name? activity sheet to complete activity.

Resources
Story of Last Names handout
What's in a Name? activity sheet

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Free Lesson Plan Calendar Computation

2009-05-27T09:56:00.003-05:00

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Measurement and Problem Solving
Grade 5- 8

DOWNLOAD FREE ACTIVITY SHEET

Objective
Students use a calendar to solve math problems.

Directions
Show students a calendar in the classroom or the calendar shown below. Tell them that this is a typical calendar for one month:

Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31

There are always seven days in a week. A week will often continue on to the next month. Any day of the week--such as a Sunday--is always seven days after the previous Sunday and seven days before the next Sunday.

These months have 30 days:
April
June
September
November

These months have 31 days:
January
March
May
July
August
October
December

(Note: February has 28 days except leap year when it has 29 days.)

Years
Look at the following information about years:
1 year = 12 months
1 year = 365 days
100 years = 1 century
1 year = 52 weeks
10 years = 1 decade
1,000 years = 1 millennium

Leap Years
Leap years are scheduled every four years on years ending with a multiple of 4. Leap years usually coincide with presidential election years in the United States. A leap year has 366 days. Leap years are not scheduled for the first year of a century unless the year is divisible by 400. The year 2000 is evenly divisible by 400 and thus is a leap year. The year 1900 is not evenly divisible by 400 and thus was not a leap year.

Recent Leap Years
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008

Have them use the calendar to solve the problems on the activity sheet.

Resources
Calendar Computation activity sheets
pencils

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Obama Releases FY 2010 Budget Request

2009-05-26T10:27:00.003-05:00

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On May 7, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2010 budget request, including $46.7 billion in discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Education.

The request (an increase of $1.3 billion over last year's regular appropriation) builds on the investments already made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to give preschoolers the skills they need to prepare for kindergarten, turn-around under-performing schools, and improve teacher effectiveness.

It also significantly increases the federal government's commitment to make college accessible and affordable to all students. Among the highlights:

-$500 million for a new program of Title I Early Childhood Grants, which would encourage school districts to use Title I funds under the ARRA to start or expand Title I preschool programs.

-$300 million for a new Early Learning Challenge Fund, a central component of the President's Zero-to-Five initiative, to help states develop or refine systems for rating and improving the quality of early learning programs.

-$10 million for the Promise Neighborhoods initiative, to provide one-year planning grants to non-profit, community-based organizations to develop comprehensive neighborhood programs that supply the necessary support for children and youth from preschool through college.

-$162.5 million for Early Reading First, an increase of $50 million to expand support for high-quality, research-based early literacy services for preschool children.

-$370.4 million for an expanded Striving Readers program, with a $35 million increase for adolescent literacy demonstration grants and $300 million for a new initiative to help districts implement comprehensive and coherent programs of reading instruction for elementary school children.

-$517.3 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund, an increase of $420 million to stimulate state and local efforts to strengthen the educator workforce, in particular by providing financial rewards for teachers, principals, and other personnel who raise student achievement, close achievement gaps, and work in hard-to-staff schools.

-$1.5 billion for Title I Improvement Grants, an increase of $1 billion to help ensure that states and districts have the resources to develop and implement improvement plans for the growing numbers of schools (including middle and high schools) identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.

-$50 million for a High School Graduation Initiative, to promote innovative strategies for increasing high school graduation rates, particularly in the "dropout factories" that graduate 60% or fewer of their students.

-Raising the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,550, an increase of $200 over the 2009 level, indexing the maximum Pell Grant to grow faster than inflation in future years, and making Pell Grant funding mandatory, to eliminate the perennial uncertainty created for students and parents.

-Saving $21 billion over five years by making all new higher education student loans through the Direct Loan program and saving $3.2 billion over five years by restructuring and expanding the Federal Perkins Loans program to serve five times as many students.

The request supports these priorities while proposing significant savings—abolishing 12 ineffective programs and cutting unnecessary personnel—that are essential to meeting the President's goal of reducing the annual federal deficit in half over the next five years.

For details, click here.
Get state-by-state tables on allocations.
Source: Department of Education

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Resources for Parents and Teachers to Promote Summer Learning

2009-05-21T15:40:00.004-05:00

The Learning Process Should Not Take a Break Over the Summer Months

This is the last week of school in many states and students everywhere are eager to find refuge in the lazy hazy summer days that lay ahead. Many parents are wondering how they can keep their children’s mind active and engaged until September. Parents and educators have legitimate cause for concern. Numerous studies indicate that a student’s language and math skills deteriorate over the summer months. It is important to keep the learning process in place even during extended breaks from school.

One way to keep a child focused on having fun while learning during their break is to engage them in activities found in books designed specifically for summer education. We recommend the Summer Bridge activity books by Carson Dellosa. These books have been very well received by parents and teachers and are designed keep the learning process alive. The books challenge young minds with daily activities in reading, writing, mathematics, and language arts with bonus activities in science and geography.

We also greatly appreciate the Building Better Bodies and Behavior section that stresses the importance of adopting healthy habits to help build character and fitness levels.

Summer is also a great time to prepare your students for the standardized tests that they will take in the spring. It would be beneficial to check into test prep workbooks for various states and grade levels that offer instruction and test taking practice in 4 key test areas: reading, writing, language, and mathematics.

Another wonderful Summer learning resource is the the Summer Bridge Activities site. This site contains numerous free activities and recommendations for parents. Kids will love the interactive computer games, parents will love the lists of activities and summer reading lists for children of all ages.

Check our blog regularly throughout the summer for new ideas for fun and challenging activities your child will love!

Secretary Duncan Urges 'States to Act Now' and Submit Stimulus Fund Applications

2009-05-21T10:32:00.002-05:00

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged states to submit applications for State Fiscal Stabilization Funds as quickly as possible, saying teaching jobs are at risk and reforms must move forward.

"We have an urgent need to reform our schools and prevent teacher layoffs," said Duncan. "The Department is turning around applications within nine days on average. States that have not yet applied need to do so now."

Of the over $100 billion stimulus dollars designated for education, $48.6 billion was designated for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. On April 1, the first $32.6 billion was made available. This includes $26.6 billion exclusively for K-12 and higher education and $6 billion for education, public safety or other government services.

So far, nearly $13 billion has been awarded to 13 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin. Another nine states and Puerto Rico have applied: Tennessee, Rhode Island, Indiana, North Carolina, Washington, Idaho, Massachusetts, Virginia and Iowa.

In addition to the stabilization funds, $11.4 billion under the Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation and Independent Living programs was available on April 1. Title I programs serve schools with large concentrations of low-income students. IDEA funds serve students with disabilities. A second round of Title I and IDEA funds will be available later in the year.

Source: Department of Education

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A New Study Claims That Merit Pay For Teachers Has Many Pitfalls

2009-05-19T12:46:00.003-05:00

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Some school policymakers are promoting a new idea for improving the schools: merit pay plans that would tie teachers’ pay to the scores their students earn on standardized math and reading tests.

Advocates of this approach base their support on two assumptions: first, that merit pay is long-established and widespread in the private sector, and second, that students’ test scores are a reliable way to gauge how well teachers are doing their jobs. Both assumptions, according to a new research report issued today by the Economic Policy Institute, are faulty.

In Teachers, Performance Pay, and Accountability: What Education Should Learn from Other Sectors Scott J. Adams, John S. Heywood and Richard Rothstein examine the evidence that underlies these assumptions, concluding that the use of merit pay systems based on quantitative measures is fraught with perverse consequences that often thwart the larger goal of improving the quality of services and outcomes and that such systems are not widespread among private sector professionals.

As Daniel Koretz writes in his preface to this volume, “In large part because available numerical measures are necessarily incomplete, holding workers accountable for them—without countervailing measures of other kinds—often leads to serious distortions."

In Part One of the study, entitled “Performance Pay in the U.S. Private Sector,” Adams and Heywood offer a detailed description of performance pay systems utilized by businesses and track the trends in their use. They find that, contrary to the claims of advocates of teacher merit pay, “relatively few private sector workers have pay that varies in a direct formulaic way with their productivity, and that the share of such workers is probably declining.” Haywood added, "Formulaic reward structures often reward only a few dimensions of productivity and run the risk of causing workers to abandon effort in the dimensions not rewarded."

Their research shows that even though many workplaces pay “bonuses,” these are generally not regular performance-related pay of the kind that is being promoted for teachers. And even though the use of bonus pay has grown, that expansion has not been widespread but rather has been focused in certain occupations and industries. The authors describe this growth as “largely a non-union, male phenomenon concentrated among managers and professionals and in finance, insurance, and real estate.” Performance pay now covers only about one in seven workers and represents only a small portion of their compensation.

In Part Two, Richard Rothstein explores “The Perils of Quantitative Performance Accountability” in the field of education, as well as a broad range of other areas extensively studied and documented by social scientists and management theorists. Rothstein’s work shows how even the best-intentioned attempts to create systems for measuring performance often subvert the goals and values of the firm or organization being measured.

Rothstein paints a vivid picture of the perverse consequences created when numbers-based accountability measures encounter the human talent for gaming the system. He draws upon familiar examples such as body counts employed by the military during the Vietnam War, ticket quotas and crime clearance rates used by law enforcement agencies, TV sweeps week, best-seller lists, and college rankings, as well as examining the impact of health care report cards on health care delivery.

Rothstein does not conclude schools and teachers cannot or should not be held accountable; rather, he urges that any accountability system must be built on the extensive experience and research inside and outside of education and on an informed assessment of the gains and losses inherent in any system.

As he writes in his conclusion: “In education, most policy makers who now promote performance incentives and accountability, and scholars who analyze them, seem mostly oblivious to the extensive literature in economics and management theory documenting the inevitable corruption of quantitative indicators and the perverse consequences of performance incentives that rely on such indicators. Of course, ignorant of this literature, many proponents of performance incentives are unable to engage in careful deliberation about whether, in particular cases, the benefits are worth the price.”

Learn how to receive a copy of the book.
Source: Economic Policy Institute

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President’s FY 2010 Detailed Budget Request for Federal Education Programs

2009-05-18T10:58:00.002-05:00

On May 7 President Barack Obama released his detailed $3.4 trillion Budget Request for FY 2010.

The total amount for U.S. Education Department programs proposed is $98.2 billion, of which $47.6 billion is for discretionary education programs.

The U.S. Department of Education Budget would grow by $1.3 billion in School Year 2010 above School Year 2009-10 federal funding levels.

The President proposes to eliminate 12 federal education programs due to poor evaluations of their effectiveness while a number of federal education programs were proposed for level funding in FY 2010, maintaining the same levels as for current School Year 2008-09.

Some programs would receive decreases in FY 2010. The reason being given is that they received extra funding through the ARRA.

The Obama Administration has created several new federal education initiatives, some of which would have to have new legislation to authorize them.

Source: Education Legislative Services

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Celebrate Children’s Book Week in Your School, Library or Home May 11-17!

2009-05-11T16:14:00.002-05:00

“A great nation is a reading nation.”- Frederic Melcher

As you can imagine, we were thrilled that this week is Children’s Book Week! This is a special week that celebrates reading and children’s literature in schools, libraries and bookstores everywhere. This celebration began in 1919 by Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian of the Boy Scouts of America. With the help of Frederic G. Melcher, the editor of Publishers Weekly, and Anne Carroll Moore, the Superintendent of Children's Works at the New York Public Library- Children’s Book Week became an annual celebration. Nearly a century later, exciting literary events all over the country, including one right here in our Windy City, are being planned!

Storyteller Barbara Clark will perform three events in Chicago to celebrate Book Week and the 40th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards. This event is free and open to the public.
Dates & Locations:
5/12 Bezazian Branch Library, 10:30 a.m.

5/12 John Pershing West Middle School Auditorium, 6 p.m.

5/13 Woodson Regional Library, 10:30 a.m.

If you cannot attend an event in your area, stage your own event! Visit the Children’s Book Week page for teachers and librarians for ideas on bringing the celebration to your school or library. Perhaps you can select a book for your child or your students from one of the Children’s Book Council’s annual list of the 100 most popular books selected by children across the country.

For full details, visit the following sites to learn ways you can help children and teens celebrate the wonder and magic of reading everywhere.

Children’s Book Council
Childrens Book Week Site
Teen Reads

Studying the Food Pyramid Free Lesson Plan

2009-05-06T13:01:00.003-05:00

Life Science
Grade 1- 3

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Objective
In this lesson students:
1. explore a food pyramid
2. give examples of foods from the different food groups
3. complete a food pyramid puzzle
4. navigate their way around a Web site

Directions

1. Using pictures from magazines, children can make charts showing examples of food from the different food groups.

2. Children can record the foods they eat over a day. They can then categorize the foods into the five food groups. The results can be compared to the suggested food intake given on the food pyramid. Children can then create menu plans so that they are eating healthy diets.

3. Children can investigate the eating habits of their family members by surveying each family member about their daily diet. The children can write reports on the family members with suggestions about how they could improve their diets.

4. Have a cooking day at school. This could involve planning a menu, writing a shopping list and purchasing the ingredients from the local supermarket before the actual cooking day. The children will have the opportunity to practice many everyday skills, such as balancing a budget, measuring ingredients, following a procedure, working and communicating in small groups, and food presentation. Parent help may be required for this activity.

Resources
computer with Internet access
pencil or pen
copies of student work sheets

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Schools Consider Four-Day Weeks

2009-05-06T12:33:00.003-05:00

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Facing deep funding cuts during the economic downturn, increasing numbers of school districts nationwide are contemplating trimming the traditional school week to four days to save money.

A four-day week has long been confined to a few small rural districts looking to save on fuel costs. Indeed, many of the districts thinking of shaving a day off their weekly calendar have small enrollments—such as the 940-student district in Bisbee, Ariz.

But some districts contemplating the move serve suburban or urban areas. The idea is being floated in South Florida's Broward County, the nation's fifth-largest school system.

A recent University of Washington study found that states are cutting 18 percent of their education spending over the next three years, eliminating as many as 574,000 jobs.

View the complete article.
(The Los Angeles Times 05.05.09)

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Is your school freaking out about the Swine Flu?

2009-05-05T09:59:00.004-05:00

By last Friday, seventeen states had issued a closing of 433 schools in response to the growing concerns surrounding the Swine Flu (H1N1 Flu). This forced 245,000 students to stay home, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Are we overreacting or being prudent?

Sources inform us (society) that the Swine Flu is not more deadly than other flu strands, but growing concern is rooted in the fact that we do not have an adequate vaccine for our lowered immunity to the virus.

A New York City school had 45 confirmed cases of the Swine Flu last week, but has since reopened. Other schools in that district remain closed resulting from an outcry from parents, nervous that their children will be exposed to the virus.

What is the proper course of action? Are we better safe than sorry, or are we being paranoid?

Let us know how your school district is reacting to the latest developments with the Swine Flu and if you agree with their actions.

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Complex Sentences Made Easy Lesson Plan

2009-04-30T19:16:00.004-05:00

Writing and Grammar
Grade 5- 8
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Objective
Students learn about complex sentences.

Directions
A complex sentence is a sentence in which at least two ideas are combined into a single sentence. What's so "complex" about that?

For example, look at the following sentence: Because he forgot his wedding anniversary for the tenth straight year, Roger spent a week sleeping on the porch.

The two ideas expressed in the sentence are:

-Roger forgot his wedding anniversary for the tenth straight year, and
-Roger spent a week sleeping on the porch.

The two ideas could be expressed as two separate sentences, but they are more effectively expressed in a complex sentence. In a complex sentence the two ideas can be combined in a way that shows their cause-and-effect relationship.

Notice how the word because explains to the reader the cause of Roger's problems. What follows the cause is the effect: Roger spent a week sleeping on the porch.

In the sentence about Roger, the word because is called a subordinating conjunction. That might sound like a puzzling term, but it is simply a type of word that will help you show the relationships between your ideas. Adverb clauses always begin with subordinating conjunctions.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Time
after
before
as soon as
as
when
until
while

Cause and Effect
because
since
if
even though

Contrast
although
while
though
whereas
unless

Here is another example of two simple sentences that might be combined into a single complex sentence with an adverb clause:

Simple Sentence
The jury didn't believe the woman.
The woman said that she killed her husband to prevent aliens from torturing him.

Combined Sentence
The jury didn't believe the woman when she said that she killed her husband to prevent aliens from torturing him.

As a writer, you have a choice to open a sentence with an adverb clause or end your sentence with an adverb clause. Notice that when the adverb clause comes at the beginning, you use a comma to separate it from the rest of the sentence; but when the adverb clause comes at the end of the sentence, no comma is necessary.

Resources
Complex Sentences Made Easy activity sheet

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Free Science Fair Project Display Boards

2009-04-30T12:57:00.002-05:00

Chicago School Supply is currently hosting a FREE Raffle for science fair project display boards! No purchase necessary - simply visit ChicagoSchoolSupply.com and enter your name. Also be sure to enter to win a FREE tricycle, FREE copy paper, and a FREE bus ride!

New Report Cites Seven Strategies to Improve Effectiveness of Extended Learning Opportunities

2009-04-30T12:32:00.003-05:00

A new report by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) highlights the positive impact high-quality Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs) have on student success and offers state leaders a blueprint to ensure ELO effectiveness.

Extended learning opportunities provide safe, structured learning environments for students outside the traditional school day. In addition to before-and after-school learning programs, ELOs include summer, evening and weekend activities and appear in a variety of formats, such as tutoring, volunteering, academic support, community service, organized sports, homework help, and art and music programs.

Citing specific examples of high-quality ELO programs from states, the report, "The Quality Imperative: A State Guide to Achieving the Promise of Extended Learning Opportunities," documents new research that confirms participation in high-quality ELOs is linked to substantial improvements in academic achievement, school attendance, student engagement, work-study habits and social and emotional development. In addition, the supports and services that high-quality ELOs provide are particularly important for low-income and minority youth, who often lack sustained access to enriching activities and academic support during nonschool hours.

The report outlines seven strategies state leaders can implement to boost the quality and success of their ELO programs:

Establish a team of key stakeholders: to envision, develop and administer a state ELO quality system: Because public funding for ELOs flows from federal, state and local entities via education, human services and other funding streams, supporting ELO quality must be a team effort.

Identify federal and state funding: sources to support ELO quality: Both the federal Child Care and Development Fund and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program have a percentage of their funds set aside for states to use to improve program quality. States also can incorporate quality set-asides into state ELO funding streams.

Set research-based ELO program standards: ELO program standards articulate the conditions that, if met, will enable programs to succeed in meeting their goals.

Measure ELO program standards and results: Measures of student outcomes and adherence to program standards enable states to determine whether programs are meeting policymakers’ expectations, and to support ELO programs as they strive for excellence.

Provide incentives to improve ELO quality: States are spurring improvements in ELO effectiveness with quality rating systems and mechanisms that tie funding to program quality.

Support a strong ELO workforce: To create a framework for professional development activities, states can establish core knowledge and competencies that delineate what ELO workers should know and be able to do.

Connect students with high quality ELOs: States can perform ELO supply and demand analyses, target resources to underserved populations, and inform parents and students about high-quality ELOs.

Download the entire report.

Sources: The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and The Council of Chief State School Officers

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Stimulus Money May Fund Summer School and Teacher Pay

2009-04-29T09:45:00.002-05:00

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has some suggestions for how schools can spend their windfall from the economic stimulus law, including summer school and extra pay for teachers to coach struggling colleagues.

The nation's schools will get an unprecedented amount of money—about $100 billion, double the amount of education spending under President George W. Bush—over the two-year life of the new stimulus law.

The Obama administration has said generally how it wants the money spent, and it has warned states not to use the money to plug budget holes, despite loopholes created by Congress that would allow that to happen.

View the complete article.
(The Associated Press 04.24.09)