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May Blog: Molding Our Technique vs. Molding Our Children . We're talking about how difficult it can be to teach all children the same way, when we know behaviorally and mentally each student is very very different.

Our Summer Learning Program is Coming Back!

Did you know tests show students lose about 2.5 months of math computation skills during summer break? Teachers spend on average 4-6 weeks of the new school year getting students back on track. We must keep our students thinking and challenged all year long.

Make sure you keep a lookout for our signup page coming next month.

May 2011 Picks

Teacher Resources | Parent Resources | Technology Tips |

May means more outside time and exploration. Celebrate both Youth Traffic and Safety Month and National Fitness and Sports Education Month. Incorporate Science and Social Studies with Space Day, National Scavenger Hunt Day, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Practice Language Skills on Mother Goose Day and Biographer's Day. And remember your teachers and school nurses on Teacher Appreciation Day. Visit our monthly newsletter to see all the details. Below are just a few highlights!

WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS MONTH?

Here are just a few of the May events that you can integrate into your classroom lesson plans.

1. National Youth Traffic Safety Month - Make sure kids are equipped with safety knowledge. Learn the rules of safety, including traffic signs and signals, bus safety, and railroad safety.


2. National Physical Fitness and Sports Education Month - Have you seen an increase in food allergies in your classroom? Do you find warm weather brings more outside time which can mean a bigger need for first aid? When's the last time your students dicussed how their bodies work and what foods fuel their energy? Click for Health Resources, Nutrition and Wellness Resources, and Physical Education Resources online.


3. Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month - We'd like to recognize and celebrate Asian and Pacific Islanders who are a part of America's history with these Library of Congress resources. Featured here is a list of highlighted properties related to the Asian-Pacific experience in America.


4. Mother Goose Day (5/1) - Find Mother Goose rhymes by categories like colors, numbers, and days of the week for Kindergarten and practice reciting stories and poems. Here's a Skill Builders Web Quest for 2nd grade on compare and contrast using Mother Goose.


5. Teacher Appreciation Day (5/3) and Nurse Appreciation Day (5/11) - Find ways to celebrate teachers and school nurses and show them how wonderful they are!.


6. Cinco De Mayo - Find Cinco De Mayo craft project ideas, printables, and recipes at Kaboose. Get word scramble games and printable puzzles on Cindo De Mayo here. Scholastic can take your students on an online global trek about Mexico.


7. Space Day (5/6) - Explore the solar system and planets in our 3rd grade Earth Science section. Find resources on Moon Phases, Causes of Moon Phases, Lunar Cycles and Sequencing in our 4th grade Science section.


8. Mother's Day (5/8) - Show our mother's how much we appreciate them with our Mother's Day page of resources, crafts, and recipes.


9. Biographer's Day (5/16) - Show 3rd graders how to identify what a biography is (Number 2) in our Language Arts Standards section. We also have Biography Topics for project ideas under Project Based Learning. Finally, learn how to research and write a biography.

TEACHER RESOURCES

1. Need something to do after TCAPs? How about these elementary projects and resources? Start a garden, make a virtual tour, browse tons of pictures and information by topic, create your own pop-up cards, chocolate projects, and much more.


2. Mt. St. Helen's Erupted - Given what's currently going on in Japan and around the world, these natural phenomenons are part of our daily conversations. I4C has a large section on Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Tsunami's and more. Here's a Volcano Webquest written by our co-founder Bill Byles.


3. Find Games, Directions, History of Sports, and More - We have a lot of links to games (inside and outside), how to play them, and more in our physical education resources section. We also have links containing the history of a number of sports, and the skills needed to master them.


4. Language Arts Resources - Find Elementary Language Arts and Grammar help on reading, writing, grammar, novels, and spelling. Click for Middle/High School Language Arts resources on bibliographic style, poetry, homonyms, homophones, interactive sites, root words, prefixes, suffices, and much more.


5. Our Daily Dose - Brain Teasers page has an endless selection of games, puzzles, daily brain teaser quizzes, and interactive activities to keep you challenged and thinking every single day.


6. Visit Teacher tools for all of your classroom needs.


7. Go to our grade level help for lesson plans, activities, instructionals, and tools organized by grade and subject.

PARENT RESOURCES

1. Teacher Appreciation Day is May 3rd - Show our educators how big of a difference they make in our lives. Just having your children make homemade cards says a lot about your appreciation. Here are some ideas that you can do with your students for Teacher Appreciation Day.


2. Nurse Appreciation Day is May 11th - Make them a card. Send them flowers. Show our nurses that we care as much as they do. Not sure what being a school nurse entails? Here's an example of a day in the life of a school nurse.


3. Mt. St. Helen's Erupted Violently on May 18th - Are you brave enough to make a volcano in your home? This recipe for a homemade volcano, with instructions and video how-to's seems like an adventure worth exploring.


4. National Scavenger Hunt Day is May 24th - The weather is getting warmer every day now. Get the kids outside and to the park. You can have a ton of fun making up your own scavenger hunts with simple supplies. Here's an example of an at home scavenger hunt that your kids can enjoy.


5. Parent Zone - A comprehensive list of everything school related, including homework help, reading help, all subject areas, and educational games.
   
   

TECHNOLOGY TIPS

1. Move content in Word with a right click - Did you know you can move text using your right click? Highlight the text using the left click button. Then right click and start to drag. A box will appear with options to move or link. It's easy and quick! Click for more Word tips.


2. Pick up where you left off in a Word doc - If your document is very long, it can be exhausting to scroll through to find the end so you can continue working. Click Shift + F5 to take you immediately to the last place you worked before you closed the file. Fast and efficient. Click for more Word shortcuts.


3. Do you find it hard to do absolutely nothing, even for 2 minutes - Click here, and see if you can sit at your computer, without touching your mouse or keyboard, and just relax for a solid 2 minutes. It's a great mind refresher during the middle of the day and a way to silence the room.

We also have other basic instruction in Microsoft Office, including Word 2007, Excel 2007, Powerpoint 2007.

OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST

1. Resources for Educators - In this section you can find classroom resources for Exceptional Children, Smartboards, Character Education, Web 2.0 Resources and other topics.
2. Resources for Parents - Parents can find resources
   on assisting their children with homework, time management, Internet Safety, subject area resources, grade level resources and more.