In October, we enjoyed the cooler fall weather, read Where the Wild Things Are, and celebrated Halloween. We featured great materials for several October observations, including Fire Safety and Italian Heritage.

In November, we’ll be observing Veterans Day with posters and poems, celebrating Thanksgiving with coloring pages, fact and fiction reading comprehension materials, and more. We can even help you get ready for Christmas. We’re also expanding our “manners” materials, with new posters and quizzes. Watch the upcoming newsletters to see our featured seasonal material and catch all our colorful new pages as they are added.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in 2010, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

Character Education

Many teachers went back to school in September, and abcteach was ready with hundreds of back-to-school materials, including bulletin board decorations, parent forms, and more. We took time for September holidays, celebrating Labor Day and Hispanic Heritage Month, relished the art of the argument with a new fallacy unit, and much more.

In October, we’re settling in with the cooler fall weather, getting ready to re-read Where the Wild Things Are and see the movie. We’re ready for Columbus Day and Halloween, and we have lots on hand for ongoing October observations, such as Fire Safety and Italian Heritage. In response to member requests, we’ll be adding some great new geometry pages (posters and practice). Watch the upcoming newsletters to see these colorful new pages as they are added.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in the upcoming school year, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

Posted by Anne Johnson, Editor

Learning centers can be an exciting addition to a classroom. They make it possible to offer a variety of activities that can be completed by students in teams or individually. Some planning and modeling in advance will help ensure successful learning centers.

The Basics:
Each learning center needs to be set up so that the students have all the materials and direction they need. This could include:

* a sign or label for the center – Math Center; Simple Machines: Lever
* clear directions or a stated goal for the center project
* all the materials needed in order to complete the activity

The current classroom lessons or themes will determine the type of learning centers you choose. There are several ways to organize learning centers. It isn’t necessary to organize all the centers in the same way. It is often useful to adapt several different approaches to fit the needs of the students. Organizational approaches include:

* By theme: Coral Reef, Simple Machines, Plants, etc.
* By learning styles: auditory, tactile, visual, etc.
* By subject: math, spelling, language, science, social studies, and computer skills.

Preparation:

* Take time to present each center.
* Explain the purpose of each center.
* Show the materials the students will be using.
* Go over the directions; show them where the directions will be posted.
* Review any reporting system or checklists that should be completed.
* Show where materials are stored between sessions (this could be folders, baskets, computer files…).
* Schedule help for younger students. Recruit students from upper grades, parents, seniors, high school co-op students, and so on for help.
* Take time to present the rules.
* Present the behavior expectations for each center.
* Demonstrate the expected behavior, and have students practice modeling the behavior. Examples of this might be:

• o practicing voice levels;
• o practicing walking from center to center;
• o practicing the appropriate handling of materials.

* Announce a planned phrase that you will use to get the attention of your entire class. The point is to have a phrase the students recognize. Tell them that by the time you finish the phrase they should all be still, quiet, and ready to listen. Practice this prior to using the learning centers. The phrase can vary by age group. Here are some suggestions:

• o For primary: 1, 2, 3, all eyes on me!
• o For elementary: May I please have your attention.

* Discuss the importance of respecting each team member’s materials and ideas, and of listening to one another. Appoint group leaders when necessary.

Setting up the classroom:
The way you set up learning centers in the classroom will depend on your class space and the method you use for learning centers. Center groups should generally not exceed five students. There are some basic set-ups that work well with any size class.

* Center areas can be placed around the room, including rug areas, reading nooks, and space outside the classroom. This is a good set-up if you will be teaching lessons and students will be using the centers at different times throughout the day.
* Centers can be organized in baskets that are put on tables or groups of desks during a designated center time. Students are then assigned to each center and rotate as scheduled or organized by you.
* Center folders can be assigned to groups. Each group of students working together can carry their materials with them to designated areas in the room.
* Computer activities will depend on your access to computers.

Records and Assessments:
How you assess the students will naturally vary with your teaching methods and types of learning centers you choose. I have found that even young students can self-assess and keep track of their work with help. Here are some ideas:

* checklists: Provide checklists for students to self-check the activities completed.
* Goal Sheets/Portfolio Assessments

• o How did I do today?
• o What would I like to do tomorrow?

* Final Assessments: Generally, the completion of the learning center task is assessed on the basis of pre-established criteria. Students can:

• o present their projects to the class
• o turn in projects for teacher evaluation
• o self-evaluate
• o have group/peer evaluations

Time for clean up:

* Allow plenty of time for orderly cleaning of each center. (about 5-10 minutes)
* Students should put the center materials back in place for the next group.
* Students should have a place to put their finished and unfinished work.

Posted by Sandy Kemsley, Founder

Free site users and members have been making use of our “back to school” materials. We have a collection of nearly a hundred back to school documents on the free site, and another two hundred on the member site. Whether you’re looking for desk tags, bulletin board ideas, “getting to know you” games, or large welcome posters, abcteach has you covered.

In September, we’re settling in with some great books, enjoying football season, celebrating Labor Day and Hispanic Heritage Month, relishing the art of the argument with our new fallacy unit, and so much more.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in the upcoming school year, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

Posted by Anne Johnson, Editor

I used worksheets in my classroom with great success! I would start with a single worksheet – a text, a chart, a photograph, or a research question – and expand it into a rich learning experience.

Example worksheet: a short text

1. Read the text with the class. The text could be projected on a screen, printed and distributed to individuals or groups, or whatever presentation method you like to use. *Please note that all abcteach “reading comprehensions” are followed by questions, but it is possible to just read the informative text with students and have them create their own questions.

2. Begin a “Question Brainstorm”. Let the questions flow, and record them. I used to use butcher block paper and post it on a big wall, but you could use computer programs or whiteboards as well. This gets updated daily.

3. Arrange students in groups according to their own interests. I found that giving students a choice of what they wanted to learn was a powerful motivation for them.

4. ALLOW TIME for research with a variety of media, web 2.0 connections, books/ebooks, etc.

5. Allow groups to plan their topics, methods of research, and final presentations to the class. Don’t limit the presentations to only paper projects, or only computer projects. Let them decide.

6. Integrate math, history, science, art, music, movement, and more into the topic.

Sample projects that my students created for a rain forest project (you could start with a picture of a rain forest animal, or a reading comprehension…):

* slideshow presentations. For example, a presentation of endangered rainforest animals, alternating photos and facts. This would be a great PowerPoint presentation, too. Graphing the declining rainforest populations is a good way to integrate math into this type of presentation. Drawing maps incorporates geography.

* games: board games and online interactive games. For example, a game where students draw questions about the rain forest and advance through the game by answering them. History blends in seamlessly here.

* drama: skits, plays ,puppet shows, movie presentations. This could be a play where rain forest animals talk about their homes, or where nature conservationists clash with farmers. This is a great area to incorporate music and movement.

* 3D models (now could be done on computer, but my students created them with hands-on materials). I think there is still a sense of satisfaction in creating things by hand, whether it’s a rainforest diorama or a model of the layers of the rain forest.

*booklets, journals, blogs, mini-websites. A journal about a trip to the rain forest is a great way to combine language arts and geography.

*tours: We turned our classroom into a rain forest full of facts for students to “read the room”. Some may want to create an online tour.

Posted by Sandy Kemsley, Founder

Free site users and members used lots of our July holiday materials - from patriotic writing prompts for Independence Day to coloring pages for Canada Day. We also saw lots of our summertime activities being downloaded - reading logs, crafts, projects, and more. Summer is a great time to explore abcteach. Parents can help their children keep up with what they learned in school, and teachers can get an early start on preparing a dazzling school year.

In August, we’re sure many of you are already focusing on back to school, and so are we. We have a collection of nearly a hundred back to school documents on the free site, and another two hundred on the member site. Whether you’re looking for desk tags, bulletin board ideas, “getting to know you” games, or large welcome posters, abcteach has you covered.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in the upcoming school year, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

Posted by Anne Johnson, Editor

Teaching a multi-grade classroom has its challenges. Even a single-grade classroom has students learning at different levels. Many things you do in a single-grade classroom to accommodate those differences will apply to the multi-grade classroom as well.

Teaching Using Themes
If you are in a school that allows flexibility, then teaching by themes is a great way to address varying levels of student ability. Here are some helpful hints:

• * Social studies and science themes lend themselves particularly well to teaching a range of levels and skills. Adaptable themes that I’ve taught include habitats and biomes, landmarks, countries, and simple machines.
• * Once you have chosen your themes, it’s good to get a variety of books at different reading levels for your classroom library (usually borrowed from your media center). Include fictional books as well as informational books. Other supplies (photographs, souvenirs, etc.), where applicable, should also be made available in the classroom.
• * Students do not need to be grouped by grade for everything. Assignments can also be adjusted according to ability rather than grade level. You can also group students by interest, either by shared interest or to create diversity.
• * Assignments that generally are easy for individual assessment are writing assignments, research projects, reports, presentations, map skills, and spelling. Include a word wall with a wide range of vocabulary.
• * Themes that originate in one subject can easily expand to cover other subject areas as well. For example, a book report on a historical fiction novel is a great language arts/history crossover. Math can also be incorporated with a different-subject theme by using graphs and charts.

Teaching Two or More Defined Curricula
If you need to include defined curricula for each grade, you can use the theme approach when it fits. If you need to keep the grades or subjects separated, there are ways to make this easier for you.To teach separated lessons, it is helpful to have independent activities for one group while actively teaching the other. These independent activities can involve reading and writing, as well as hands-on centers.

Students who are not in a group with you can be working on book reports, silent reading, spelling activities, and math practice sheets. When they have completed their assignments, students should be able to go to learning or activity centers, where they can quietly practice the skills further. Computer work, if available, is often a good option for independent work. Learning games can be played quietly by two students.It is important to spend time going over the procedures for using learning centers and independent work. The older your students are, the easier this will be.Planning is the key to a smoothly-run classroom. With a little planning, a multi-grade classroom can be vibrant, fun, and fully educational -for both the students and you!

Posted by Sandy Kemsley, Founder

Free site users and members used gift ideas, teacher appreciation materials, and other great teaching supplies from abcteach in May. We provided a range of materials for the May holidays, including Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.We know that many of you are approaching the end of the school year. We are here to help!Members have already been using lots of our end of the year materials - from candy wrapper covers and graduation certificates to writing prompts and summer projects.

In the month of June, we also have materials for Father’s Day and Flag Day. You may also want to check the huge range of materials available for summer– reading logs, crafts, and more!I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. We really do love hearing your opinions!

Posted by Anne Johnson, Editor

If you are an abcteach member, you will notice a bumper crop of new materials on gardening this week! We have a whole set of worksheets made with the abctools (from an abc sort to a word search), plus a great homeschool project on making and keeping a garden- choosing plants, deciding how to plant, plotting a garden, monitoring the garden, and so on. This project is perfect for homeschoolers or parents looking for a project to do with their children. All these materials are placed in a new garden theme unit on our member site. We hope you’ll enjoy this new material. Let us know what you think!

Posted by Anne Johnson, Editor

Members and free site users celebrated spring with hands-on crafts and other fun teaching ideas from abcteach. We provided posters, writing prompts, reading comprehensions and more for all the April holidays, including April Fool’s Day, Easter, Arbor Day, and Earth Day.

We’ve gotten great feedback on our new physics unit. Watch the newsletter to see even more new hands-on experiments and fun ideas this month!

We have a wide range of materials to help you with the holidays and special occasions in May. Users have been accessing our fabulous Mother’s Day selection, with lots of cute craft ideas for easy gifts. Coming up, we also have lots of materials for Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day. We have also added some new materials for Teacher Appreciation Day.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. We really do love hearing your opinions!

Memorial Day
Teacher Appreciation