Be sure to see additional articles from the Responsive Classroom in our archive of columns written by Ruth Sidney Charney, co-founder of the Northeast Foundation for Children, which is home base for the Responsive Classroom appraoch. Click here to view that article archive.
Everyone has met people who are highly compassionate. But we would meet more of them if children were taught to be empathetic at a young age, according to author/teacher David A. Levine, who has created lessons and activities to teach empathy skills.
A lesson plan using a drawing program on the computer (or by hand!) for children to create their own endings to a story that is read to them...except for the ending!
Arts & Humanities --Language Arts --Literature --Visual Arts Educational Technology [facebookbadge] Brief Description Students use drawing software, such as Paint or AppleWorks, to draw, or write and draw, their own endings to a read-aloud story. Objectives Students will draw or write and draw a new ending to a story.
Children's poetry by Meadowbrook Press. Lots of funny poems, poetry contests and more! Ideas for educators on teaching poetry in fun and interesting ways.
Teachers often come from vastly different social and economic classes than their students, which can lead to culture clashes in the classroom. A book by Dr. Ruby K. Payne helps educators understand low-income students, and discusses ways to improve their learning. Included: Tips for making lessons relevant to students from all social classes.
ABCya.com is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. All children's educational computer activities were created or approved by certified school teachers. All educational games are free and are modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn.
Order our Launching Young Readers PBS series Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in helping struggling readers build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
A strong vocabulary is an important part of reading comprehension. According to Drs. Isabel Beck and Margaret McKeown ( Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction), children should add about 2,000-3,500 words annually to their reading vocabulary. But did you know that students learn 85 percent of those new words indirectly, as they interact with language and text?