LEGO picks six schools for new education program (North Carolina)
eSchool News
If having fun is the key to promoting learning, then learning is being promoted in abundance at Combs Elementary School in Raleigh, NC. (March 2012)
Providing food for thought at "reading restaurant" (Texas)
San Antonio Now
On a recent Thursday evening, Pecan Valley Elementary School Principal Merrill Ramsey, dressed in a formal white shirt and black bow tie, greeted students and their parents near the entrance to the school cafeteria to escort them into the “restaurant.” (March 2012)
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/article/Providing-food-for-thought-at-the-Reading-3416807.php#ixzz1pkeRFeci
Changing the Classroom
Forsyth County News
They could have been across the globe or right next door. All the students in Joanne Paget's fourth-grade class at Coal Mountain Elementary knew was that the students with whom they were Skyping had an Internet connection. (February 2012)
Kelly Stopp's Sunset Stories program brings home the parent-child experience of reading (Georgia)
Milken Family Foundation
To encourage more reading, Stopp and her partners bring families with children ranging from babies to fourth grade together at 6:30 p.m. for what they call Sunset Stories (tagline: "A story read just before bed"). (July 2011)
Professor Buzzo highlights science, math for teachers (Tennessee)
DNJ.com
Educators pick up new tricks for their own classrooms for the coming year. (June 2011)
Pokemon cards allowed in Queens school thanks to third-grader's persuasive letter to teacher
New York Daily News
Nine-year-old Lucas Ayala didn't just get angry about his Queens charter school's long-standing ban on his favorite trading card game - he decided to take matters into his own hands and write a letter to try to get the rule overturned. (June 2011)
E-Portfolios Evolve Thanks to Web 2.0 Tools
Education Week
In Rob Van Nood's classroom at the 365-student Trillium Charter School in Portland, Ore., students use iPod touches to take pictures of their work, record audio relfections about their projects, and file them into their digital portfolios with the click of a button. (June 2011)
Online Game Fuels Students' Interest in Math (Texas)
San Antonio Express News
After introducing her fourth grade class to the Reasoning Mind online math program, Paschall Elementary teacher Ann Waring went home that night and logged on to explore the program further. At 9:30pm she was surprised to find four of her students also working online. (June 2011)
Kindegarten teachers find success in block scheduling (Georgia)
Columbia Times
Kindegarten teachers at Grovetown Elementary School this school year discovered a better way to instruct pupils through a method of block scheduling. (May 2011)
Techniques for Teaching Vocabulary to Elementary Students
Edutopia
So, I’m sitting in a workshop on vocabulary development listening to a bunch of research as to why kids lack the language to effectively comprehend and communicate. (May 2011)
Baby, What a Lesson! Kids Learn Empathy (Washington State)
Seattle Times
What makes Asa Berg such an effective third-grade teacher is that he is not quite 11 months old. (May 2011)
Recess Program Isn't Just Child's Play (Ohio)
Cincinnati Enquirer
A throng of giddy first-graders rushed toward the playground at the Academy of World Languages for a new kind of recess. (May 2011)
Elementary Students are High-Tech Pen Pals (Florida)
Florida Today
Second grade students at Gemini Elementary School in Melbourne Beach are pen-pals with students in Bulgaria - albeit with a very modern twist. (May 2011)
Five Simple Techniques to Incorporate Social and Emotional Learning
Edutopia
When I first began working in the field of Social/Emotional Learning more than 20 years ago, the term SEL had not yet been invented. (May 4)
Junior Master Gardner Program starts working with kids in Braselton (Georgia)
Braselton News Today
For avid gardeners, this time of year is prime for staying busy getting their hands into the soil to prepare for a new seaso
But for this group of fresh gardeners — some still in elementary school — they’re blending classroom instruction and hands-on experience to someday become young experts in a garden. (March 2011)
Recipe for Reading Success is a Real Page Turner
Boston Globe
Beachmont students have a right to feel upbeat and confident. Set in a gritty working-class neighborhood under a Logan flight path, this school is an urban success story.
Solving Common Classroom Problems: Sign Language Lends a Hand
Education Week Teacher
This morning, four of my students asked to use the bathroom in the space of 10 minutes. In those same 10 minutes, I was able to conduct several other assignments. How? (February 2011)
Friendship Elementary putting weight on wellness program (Georgia)
Gainesville Times
Teachers at Friendship Elementary are replacing classroom chairs with exercise balls as part of a new wellness program.
Kineo: Like an iPad, but made for students
eSchool News
As more school leaders look at using iPads and other tablet computers as learning tools, the Florida-based company Brainchild has developed an iPad-like device that is designed specifically for elementary and middle school students. (February 2011)
How 60 students are learning in one classroom (New York)
New York Times
The New American Academy in Brooklyn, N.Y., features open classrooms with 60 kindergartners or first-graders being taught by a master teacher and multiple novices. The strategy is designed to promote independence, self-expression and scientific inquiry rather than teacher-led lessons and rote learning. It's also intended to offer a new method for teacher training.
District says iPods fire up kids for reading (Oregon)
eSchool News
The Canby school district has issued an iPod touch to every third-grader, challenging the idea that digital technology exists largely as a distraction for a plugged-in generation. Early indications show improvement in test scores among students using the devices.
Gifted education used to engage all students in Texas district (Texas)
Dallas Morning News
The district is extending its gifted-education model to all students in two elementary schools as part of a pilot program to better engage students. Students in the "schoolwide enrichment model" are grouped in multigrade clusters for one hour each week to work on educational projects tailored to their interests. It's expected to be used in all elementary schools by the end of the school year.
Students learn multiplication to a musical beat (Texas)
Southlake Journal
Students in Anne Rozell's third-grade class at Durham Elementary School are multiplying their fun with a new song written just for them. Popular educational song writer Ron Brown's tunes have filled Rozell's classroom for years, helping students learn math and science facts. (December 2010)
How do you interest young readers in non-fiction? (Kentucky)
Louisville Courier Journal
The competitive spirit of the ancient Greek cities of Sparta, Athens and Corinth was celebrated in Harmony Elementary School's gym recently as second-graders participated in their own Olympics. (December 2010)
Algebra in elementary school? As demands change, educators look for new ways to teach math (Michigan)
Grand Rapids Press
It used to be that algebra and other high-level math courses were limited to high schools, and even then only those students headed to college. But more and more algebra is popping up in middle schools and even some its concepts in elementary grades as school districts adapt to changing demands. (December 2010)
Social media aids teachers, students (Minnesota)
St. Cloud Times
For decades, students such as Kara Winters have read about the Underground Railroad.
Last week, the Westwood Elementary School sixth-grader was reading a book on the subject and writing her thoughts about each chapter using a computer program called Weebly. (December 2010)
Walking boosts brain power (Arizona)
Ahwatukee Foothill News
The day doesn't truly get started for many students at Basha Elementary School until their morning walk is done. (December 2010)
School venture opens minds to inquiry, learning (Georgia)
Gainesville Times
Several kids who once felt indifferent about school are responding to a new venture at Chestnut Elementary School. (December 2010)
Louisville Courier-Journal
First-grade teacher Annie Rausch's classroom is abuzz with activity. They aren't as disorganized as they first appear: They're reading, taking part in a carefully constructed, leveled literacy program. (December 2010)
Elementary Students Encouraged to Set College Goals (California)
Education Week
To get children thinking about college early, Los Penasquitos Elementary School in San Diego changed its name to No Excuses University at Los Pen. (December 2010)
Inclusion model benefits elementary school (Texas)
Austin American-Statesman
Students in a fourth-grade classroom at Galindo Elementary School are taking turns reading from "Romeo and Juliet." It's difficult at first glance to tell the students in special education from those who are not. (December 2010)
Fourth-grade class learns using iPads (Kentucky)
Louisville Courier Journal
When Jenna Brown's fourth-graders take out their class supplies each day, they pull out their iPads along with their paper and pencils. (December 2010)
High-tech teaching gives instant results (Pennsylvania)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
At Stanwood Elementary School, blackboards have become obsolete. Overhead projectors are gathering dust, and even raising your hand to answer a question has gone out of style. (November 2010)
Bouncing balls support learning, help students focus (Virginia)
News Leader
When 10 men carrying large rubber balls walked into Bethany Gibbs' fifth grade classroom seven weeks ago, her first thought was "Why did I do this?" Now she asks how did she teach without them? (November 2010)
Using Music in the Classroom to Inspire Creative Expression
Edutopia
If someone were crazy enough to let me run a school and I had the privilege of interviewing teachers, my first question would be, "What's your passion?" (November 2010)
Brain, body working in sync - Using movement in learning (Mississippi)
Hattiesburg American
This former teacher is now training other teachers how to use movement to increase student performance. (November 2010)
First-graders use Facebook as a learning tool (Iowa)
Daily Nonpareil
It’s like any other classroom until 7-year-old Kent Hyde, the teacher’s helper of the day, is asked to use the reading session to provide a status update for the classroom’s Facebook page. (November 2010)
Let Them Play (California)
Teacher Magazine
Since when did the word "play" become outlawed in kindergarten? It's time to bring play time back to the kindergarten classroom. (August 2010)
Lessons from a school that works (Minnesota)
Pioneer Press
It's summer vacation, and while their peers are playing outside or watching television, about one-third of students at Dayton's Bluff Elementary in St. Paul are in school to become better readers, writers and mathematicians. (July 2010)
Will sitting on big orange balls help students improve focus?
Chicago Daily Herald
"It's much more comfortable than a chair and it helps me focus," said Bridget Cluskey, 11. "I pay more attention to the teacher when she's talking." (June 2010)
Students pedal to greenness (Connecticut)
NewsTimes
The school's third-, fourth- and fifth-graders are the first in the country using a Ridgefield company's system to convert student energy on fitness machines into electricity the school can use. (June 2010)
Old Mill Elementary teachers building centers of learning
Louisville Courier Journal
While students were two days into their summer vacations, teachers like Missy Stallings and Karen Brown were still at school June 3, busy researching and rethinking their strategies for next school year. (June 2010)
‘Power of the Pen’ links students with celebrities (Kansas)
Shawnee Dispatch
The project, which strives to improve writing and communication skills, began early in the school year when Leggett’s class made a list of famous people to write to. (May 2010)
Teacher has students sit in pods to boost their collaboration skills (Wisconsin)
Green Bay Press Gazette
This teacher is already preparing her first- and second-grade students for the workforce by making sure her students interact and collaborate with each other. (April 2010)
Yoga, parties relieve stress and build confidence in teens (Tennessee)
Commercial Appeal
School officials in and around Memphis, Tenn., say they are working to relieve testing stress among students and teachers through yoga, pep rallies, parties and songs. The preparation for state tests also is meant to motivate students to perform well. (April 2010)
Can iPod Touch boost math scores? One Pinellas school tests theory (Florida)
St. Petersburg Times
This school year Faleycia Moore is spending more time on her math homework than her teacher demands. (April 2010)
Hydroplanes offer lessons for students (Kentucky)
Courier Journal
Completion of his model hydroplane is still another week or so away, but Maupin Elementary fourth-grader Jaelyn Lewis couldn't help getting excited recently about its eventual coolness. (March 2010)
Total child gets exercise at brain gym (Florida)
Florida Today
Young students at Holland Elementary in Satellite Beach look forward to the SMILE lab taught by physical education teacher Cindy Hosken. The acryonym stands for Sensory Motor Intensive Learning Environment. (March 2010)
Drilled on new language (California)
Daily Pilot
With a blog from Uruguay, second- through fifth-graders are picking up Spanish in new ways. (March 2010)
Getting the wiggles out (Utah)
Herald Journal
Recess is common sense, Eldon Budge says, and it’s just as critical to a child’s learning as subjects taught in the classroom. (February 2010)
Fifth grade teachers try a new style at Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News (Virginia)
Newport News
Two fifth-grade teachers at Hampton Roads Academy are thinking outside of the box when it comes to educating their students. They are using a hemispheric style of teaching. (February 2010)
How to boost student learning? More recess might help. (Nation)
Christian Science Monitor
Many schools have cut back on recess as they try to meet requirements for student learning. But in a new Gallup survey, principals cite benefits from recess. (February 2010)
Recess before lunch is a good recipe for better health and learning (Nation)
New York Times
Can something as simple as the timing of recess make a difference in a child's health and behavior? (January 2010)
Skype in the classroom technology brings students together (Pennsylvania)
Press and Journal
Some Pennsylvania third-graders are talking with older students about high school and career goals using Skype -- a free online program that allows users to see and talk to each other using a webcam. (December 2009)
Students learn marketing skills (North Carolina)
Morganton News Herald
Good behavior and good grades often create a little green in the hands of students, but at Rutherford College Elementary School, their green was in the form of checks. (December 2009)
Music is instrumental in teaching (California)
San Diego Union Tribune
Kids in Alpine are crazy about Jiji. Jiji — a cartoonlike penguin — is the symbol for a program that teaches math and music to students in the Alpine Union School District. (December 2009)
Critical thinking taught here... courtesy of the Big Bad Wolf (Iowa)
Quad City Times
The events that followed Friday put Pleasant View fourth-graders behind the wheel of arguing and deliberating their very own court case. (December 2009)
Students acing yoga test (Minnesota)
Star Tribune
More Minnesota schools are offering yoga for students, but kids are learning more than poses such as downward dog. Educators say yoga can give students an academic boost. (December 2009)
Learning to Teach to Bridge the Achievement Gap (California)
New York Times
Three ingredients have turned this school around: high expectations for everyone, constant assessment and family involvement. (November 2009)
Exercise balls get students rolling (California)
Los Angeles Times
Classrooms that have replaced chairs with balls and ball chairs see better results. The devices sharpen students' attention and improve posture, teachers say. (November 2009)
History to Go program lets kids take museum to school (Florida)
St. Petersburg Times
This local museum program for educators helps turn students into docents who teach lessons to other students. The learning process is enhanced. (November 2009)