November 2010 Picks

November 2010 is another busy month of calendar events. Two big common factors in a couple of these events are writing and reading. National Author's Day, I Love to Write Day, and National Readers Week focus on language arts, writing resources, and children's stories. Other topics to honor this month include Thanskgiving, Geography Awareness Week, and National Sandwich Day.

Go to our blog. This month's topic is "Why Students Should Write - The Importance of Journal and Blog Writing." Read why teachers should be using writing in their classrooms every day and the effects writing can have on students.

Check out both teacher resources and parent resources. Find math practice skills and math assessment help. High school students can start to prepare for college entrance exams with our ACT/SAT practice modules. Make sure you click on our new section about educational apps for both the iPod Touch and iPad. Finally, check out the technology tips to learn about PC keyboard shortcuts and how to best utilize the drawing tool bar in Microsoft Word. To suggest a topic for December 2010, be sure to email us.

WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS MONTH?

Here are some November events that you can integrate into your classroom lesson plans:

1. National Author's Day - Learn about many Children's authors by looking at their works and their web sites. Turn kids into novelists by giving them the opportunity to publish student works using these publishing resources.
2. National Sandwich Day - Incorporate lessons about sequencing while discussing how to make their favorite sandwich.
3. National Young Readers Week - How to use the library, Language Arts grade level help, and online children's stories to promote readers week.
4. I Love to Write Day - Use this day to promote writing in the classroom. Find tools for writing letters, essays, and stories. Learn about transition words. Here's everything you need for Elementary Language Arts Resources and Middle and High School Language Arts.
5. Geography Awareness Week - Social Studies Standards and Social Studies, History and Geography Resources for the classroom.
6. Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving crafts, activities, poetry, and more!
   
   

TEACHER RESOURCES

1. Elementary Writing Resources - Instructionals, tools, and interctives on everything from writing lessons, letters, essays, and stories to writing prompts and transitions.
2. Language Arts Standards - Language, communication, writing, research, logic, and more organized by grade.
3. Online Children's Stories - A large list of online children's stories, tales and tables; some interactive, with audio, and colorful illustrations.
4. Language Arts Assessment Help - Grammar and reading practice tests for students organized by topics such as punctuation, compare/contrast, spelling, main idea, etc.
5. Math Assessment Help - Practice tests for math topics like numbers and operation, general elementary, geometry, data analysis, high school and more.
6. Math Practice Skills - One page providing tons of links that cover elementary resources, general math, grade level practice help, special topics, and assessment assistance.
7. ACT/SAT practice guides - Free sources to help students practice for both the ACT and SAT exams.
8. Teacher Tools - Everything teachers need to get through the school year from lesson planning, bulletin boards, and assessment help to worksheets and calendars.
9. Skill Builders Activities - Interactive activities for Language Arts and Math, organized by grade.
   
   

PARENT RESOURCES

1. Math Help - Practice skills and assessment help that your students can work on at home.
2. Math Resources - Find Elementary math, General math, and Special Topics.
3. Thanksgiving Crafts - Enjoy these creative crafts and activities to decorate your homes and table tops this Thanksgiving.
4. Parent Zone - A comprehensive list of everything school related, including homework help, reading help, all subject areas, and educational games.
   
   

TECHNOLOGY TIPS

1. Educational Apps for the iPod Touch and iPad - A work-in-progress list of FREE educational apps for your students.
2. PC Keyboard Shortcuts - Discover how to save time when using your PC with these keyboard shortcuts.
3. Drawing Toolbar in Microsoft Word - Learn how to draw shapes and text boxes within your Word documents.

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.