Minutes a Day—Mastery for a Lifetime!
As my profile states, I am a Cleveland Indians fan. Inhabitants of Northeast Ohio understand what that means. You see, we have witnessed a lot of exciting baseball in our town, and we have come REALLY close to winning it ALL. But it’s been 70 years since we’ve won a World Series. My 88-year-old mother […]
Summer Solutions Books The Simple Solutions Approach–solid instruction, daily distributed practice, and ongoing assessment–is a proven strategy that promotes mastery and ensures long-term retention. Summer Solutions provides review and practice that allows students to retain important math and language arts skills, not only over the summer break but for a lifetime. Grades 4 – 8 […]
No More “Summer Packets” All teachers are aware that summer learning loss is real. In fact, many teachers take a pro-active approach to curb that loss by creating summer reading lists or putting together “packets” of enrichment or reinforcement worksheets for kids to complete over the summer. All activities have the same goal: keep students […]
A recent trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios had me thinking back to my first Harry Potter memory and the treasure trove of descriptive language found in the series. Do you have an early Harry Potter memory? Mine was the summer of ‘99. I heard Oprah Winfrey talking about a […]
Here is a multi-layered Black History Month project that you can do with your upper elementary/middle school students. Pick the layer you’re comfortable with — or have time for — and go to town. LAYER 1 introduces students to this cream-of-the-crop website, The Undefeated 44, that has portraits and short biographical pieces of prominent African Americans. […]
Galileo Happy 454th Birthday! I had such fun writing the Ben Franklin birthday blog, I thought I’d write about another scientist. I stumbled upon Galileo’s name in a novel I was reading, Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, in which two characters briefly discuss one of Galileo’s discoveries. “What I recall about this Galileo […]
Snap out of the day-to-day monotony in the classroom by planning a virtual field trip to…anywhere. Virtual field trips are a great way to enhance your curriculum and make learning more engaging. They incorporate 21st century technology in a meaningful way, provide interactive learning experiences, and expose students to places they may never have a […]
It happens every four years. The magic and thrill of the Winter Olympics is why I can put my life on hold for two weeks to watch athletes with amazing skills and compelling backstories compete at the top of their sport! The Olympics have always had a hold over my heart. Most students will be […]
Practice test-taking skills this summer! For some middle school kids, taking a test is as scary as facing a shark. One way to ease those fears is to practice test-taking strategies. Our Summer Solutions Study Skills books provide students with note-taking and test-taking strategies that will help them once school starts again in the fall. […]
Let’s talk about poetry! World Poetry Day is March 21st! We know that poetry isn’t always students’ (or teachers’) favorite subject. Oftentimes, poetry can seem difficult to explain or difficult for students to fully understand, especially when dealing with more contemporary poetic forms—those that don’t rhyme or follow easy patterns. But don’t let these […]