Dear Education Leaders,

Welcome! This free weekly Lesson Planning newsletter features summaries of lesson plans recently published on Education World^®, the largest free, independent resource on the Web for educators. If you enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to others. If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you may sign up at http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml. To ***, see instructions at the bottom of this newsletter. Education World remains a free resource thanks to the support of our advertisers -- so please click on ads of interest and visit our advertisers' sites. Thank you.

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This week's newsletter is sponsored by HP.

HP knows successful 1:1 computing takes more than just computers, it takes great planning. That’s why HP offers a range of services like ongoing training for educators and innovative financing to help keep technology current. It’s just a part of the bigger picture HP considers to make 1:1 computing work for both students and educators alike.
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Volume 10, Issue 14
April 2, 2008

Play Ball!
With a swing of the bat, baseball season has officially begun. When baseball fever strikes, you can bring the game into the classroom -- and score a home run -- with this week's Education World lessons and activities. Included: A stadium full of activities and links to team sites, baseball math sites, cross-curricular projects -- plus the famous "Casey at the Bat" poem and Abbott and Costello's "Who's On First?" script.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson107.shtml

ESL/ELL Lessons
Education World offers a guide to some of the best online lessons for ESL/EFL students in middle school, high school, and above. Included: Five complete lesson plans -- and links to scores more.
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson224.shtml

Think Spring
Join the Journey to Spring Web project or explore dozens of other lesson plans for teaching about spring.
http://www.educationworld.com/holidays/archives/spring.shtml

Building a S-T-R-O-N-G Spelling Program
Once each year, students compete in the National Spelling Bee. But, in most classrooms, spelling is a daily activity -- and Education World has all the resources you will need to spark student excitement about spelling. You will find spelling games and activities that will help students spell up a s-t-o-r-m.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/spelling.shtml

Lesson Plan of the Day
Click the link above to see dozens of recent Lesson Plans of the Day, including the lessons below that were posted last week.
Generate Genre Definitions - Use a graphic organizer. (Grades 3-12)
News With a Slant - Compare how newspapers cover a story. (3-12)
"Two Diamond Baseball" Game - Review skills in any subject. (K-12)
What's in a Name? - Identify U.S. cities with unusual names. (3-12)
Egg Hunt - Indoor or outdoor learning activity; exercise too. (K-8)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/dailylp.shtml

Vicki Cobb’s Show-Biz Science
You can tell a person's shoe size without looking at his or her foot.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/showbiz_science/showbiz_science001.shtml

News for Kids
Will Smog Be a Problem at the Olympic Games?
Dirty air is likely to impact athletes at this summer's Olympics in Beijing, China.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/newsforyou.shtml

Learning Game of the Week
"Slice of Life" has students graphing daily activities.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/learninggame/learninggame026.shtml

Friday Fun
Math BINGO
Use our Math BINGO cards to reinforce math skills across the grades.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/friday/friday015.shtml

Writing Bug
Use all your senses to describe taking a walk in a spring storm.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/writing_bug/writingbug034.shtml

Box Cars and One-Eyed Jacks Math Games With Joanne and Jane
This week: "Zap" teaches addition facts.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/boxcars/boxcars013.shtml

Bulletin Boards That Teach
Check out our archive of 30 bulletin board ideas for use the school year long.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/archives/bullboard.shtml

Early Childhood Teaching Themes
Nutrition Hands-on activities, literature, much more.
Celebrate Spring Celebrate this season of awakenings with your students.
Let's Exercise Take advantage of students' energy; get your class up and moving.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_earlychildhood/newsletters/

Tech Lesson of the Week
Favorite Poem Project
Students explore a variety of poems, find one poem they feel a particular connection to, and share that poem by reading it aloud to their classmates. Students then create videos of their readings to share with other classes.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techlp/techlp032.shtml

Backpacktivity
Stained Glass Magic
Students create art that looks like a stained glass window.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/homework/pdfs/backpacktivity_033.pdf

Contests and Competitions
Make a Splash Sweepstakes
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/archives/contests.shtml

From the Math Machine
Time Travelin' is a fun Web site for teaching students to tell time. (Grades 2-4)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/mathmachine/mathmachine030.shtml

Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans
Teacher Lesson #1 Student teams compete to learn 100 famous quotes.
Teacher Lesson #2 Five days of activities for teaching young students about shapes.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/index.shtml

Every-Day Edits
Primary Edits Animals A to Z: Urchin.
Ele-Middle Edits Maya Angelou, New Jersey, Madeline…
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/animalsAtoZ.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/edit.shtml

Fact Monster Hunts
Primary Hunt April Hunt #2.
Ele-Middle Hunt Hunt #28.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/factmonster.shtml

Vocab-ulous!
Words that begin with cl- blends.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/vocabulous/vocabulous028.shtml

5-Minute Fillers Volume 29
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/fillers.shtml

Work Sheet of the Week
"Prepositions" -- a handful of printable activities. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/worksheets/TCM/lang_arts_6_8.shtml

FROM OUR PRINTABLES LIBRARY

Hunt the Fact Monster
Build reading comprehension and Internet searching skills. Two levels: primary and ele-middle. (Grades 3-9)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/factmonster.shtml

Geography A to Z
Learn about world geography one letter at a time. (Grades 4-8)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/geography_az.shtml

Make Your Own Holiday Work Sheets
Use these holiday templates to make your own activities for any subject. (Grades Pre-K - 5)
http://www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/index.shtml#holiday_editable

Sudoku Puzzles
These popular puzzles build critical thinking skills. Thirty-six puzzles in all. (Grades 3-12)
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/sudoku.shtml

Just for This Month!
See our April Month of Fun, April Word Search, and April Coloring Calendar. PLUS! Create your own work sheets for this month’s themes: Spring, "March Madness" Basketball, Umbrellas, Flowers….
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/fun_month.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/wordsearch.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/calendar.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/index.shtml#holiday_editable

New! TGIF #8 Have you seen Education World's new TGIF feature? Each Friday, TGIF rewards you for making it through another week. Take a deep breath, enjoy some cool ideas and resources, and get your weekend off to a great start! In Volume 8 Give students some "Miracle Grow for the Brain"… When you think you're about to lose it, just… Got a minute to help kids learn to tell time? Watch for all new content this Friday in TGIF!

Dr. Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching
Dealing With the Unexpected
“No set of skills comes with a guarantee. In this segment, we will examine a type of child whose response to you meaning business will be the opposite of what you might expect.“
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/jones/jones034.shtml

Dr. Ken Shore: Classroom Problem Solver
Math Anxiety
“Students with math anxiety have confidence in only one thing -- that they can't do it. We need to prove to those students that they can do it, convincing them -- through a variety of successful experiences -- that they are more capable than they think."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/shore/shore066.shtml

Max Fischer
Poetry Writing: A Comprehension Tool Across the Curriculum
“I've found that poetry writing does have a place in my social studies and history curricula. It is one more way in which my students can demonstrate their comprehension of the material at hand."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/voice/voice120.shtml

Bernie Poole's Essential Microsoft Office 2007
PowerPoint Presentations
Lesson 9 of Bernie Poole's Essential Microsoft Office 2007 explains how to use PowerPoint to create slideshows and other teaching materials.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/poole/office_tutorials/Lesson9_2007.pdf

Lorrie Jackson's Techtorial
Keyboarding Can Be Fun
"Fast and accurate keyboarding is a critical skill for today's students. A number of software programs can help students learn and practice keyboarding skills, but sometimes kids need a break from the tedium of formal keyboarding exercises. The following activities will add a little fun to your keyboarding practices."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial028.shtml

The Principal Poet
Mr. Ivan, Education World's Principal Poet, presents "Sitting in the Hallway.”
I’m sitting in the hallway,
And the classroom door is closed.
The teacher told me to sit out here.
Now, why do you suppose?...
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/ivan/ivan012.shtml

Letters About Literature
Bookends
Students learn how to close a letter.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/reading/Literature/LAL_page_014.pdf

Total Reader
How Cool Is That!
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev149.shtml

Math on the Web
And the Winner Is...
Math contests motivate and challenge students. Discover links to some of the best competitions for K-12 students.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr145.shtml

Handling Late Comers
You're already five minutes into the lesson and a student walks in. How do you handle the disruption? Do you stop the class? Do you ignore it? Classroom management expert Howard Seeman offers eight tips for handling latecomers.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev088.shtml

Peeing in the Ool and Other Favorite Poems for Kids
Education World chats with Kenn Nesbitt, author of a collection of humorous poems for children titled "The Aliens Have Landed!" Nesbitt, whose zany poetry has appeared in children's poetry anthologies all over p***t Earth, offers suggestions for his favorite poetry resources for teachers.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat176.shtml

Tech Classroom Spotlight
Technology Choices
Marilyn Mossman's technology-based projects enrich the curriculum.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/teacher_feature/teacher_feature028.shtml

What Every Teacher Should Know About Technology
Ed-tech professor Bernie Poole identifies six essential technology-related skills every good teacher should possess -- or acquire.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech227.shtml

Reforming Recess
Ask some principals to identify the most difficult part of their day, and it will be recess, a time when fights and visits to the nurse's office skyrocket. But before you decide to eliminate this important opportunity for physical activity, consider the causes of the chaos. Many students don't come to school with the tools they need to resolve conflicts or the basic understanding of playground games. Included: Administrators across the nation share how Sports4Kids has reformed their playgrounds and restored order to recess.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin519.shtml

Tech Team
Laptops, Handhelds, or Tablet PCs?
The Education World Tech Team shares its thoughts about how each mobile computing device might help teachers teach and students learn. Included: The plusses and minuses of laptops, handhelds, and tablet PCs.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech198.shtml

Newsletters 'R Us
Copy and paste this free content into your teacher or school newsletters.

quotED "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/archives/newsletters.shtml

Wire Side Chat
Safeguarding Laptops and Their Contents
Most people wouldn’t leave school without locking up confidential files. Yet, many fail to “lock up” their laptops -- leaving the data and computers themselves vulnerable to theft. Educators and students must practice laptop security to prevent devastating data breaches.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat225.shtml

 

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http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml#profdev

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This week, Education World reviewed three Web sites of interest to educators.

Making Learning Fun
For PreK-2, lots of themes and activities.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0308-28.shtml

Center for Civic Education
Civics 101? Here's "Civics WWW."
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0308-26.shtml

Electoral Geography 2.0
USA elections not enough for you? See maps of election results worldwide.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0308-24.shtml

 

This Week's Survey Question
Have any students in your school ever posted unflattering images or descriptions of you or any of your colleagues online?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey169.shtml

Last Week's Survey Results
A Florida school district plans to teach its sixth graders about contraceptive use. Are sixth graders too young for this information?
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/survey/survey168.shtml

 

Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators."

No Contest: The Case Against Competition
One of the most prolific education writers, Alfie Kohn is also one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking. This book makes perhaps the most profound argument Kohn has ever fielded -- that "healthy competition" is an oxymoron, that competition is not an essential or desirable aspect of human nature, but rather a part of our animal nature that we must transcend. Of course our educational system has a love-hate relationship with competition: we don't want kids to feel like losers, but our society demands that schools identify a small number of winners. A truly essential read!
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

The Absorbent Mind
Maria Montessori's classic underscores her belief that learning is a natural characteristic of the human being, and that the process of education is best conducted as a nuturing of that natural impulse, rather than something that has to be imposed on one's otherwise savage little charges. Along with this is her belief, much more radical in its time than now, that people's personalities are not fixed at birth, but that a child's early years are in fact crucially formative.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace.

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The Best of LEARNING GAMES

If you enjoy Education World's weekly LEARNING GAMES feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet of more than 30 of our most popular learning games. PLUS an extra bonus -- ten more games for classroom fun!

These classroom games span the grades and the major subject areas -- and inject a healthy dose of fun into the serious business of teaching and learning. Looking to fill the end of a hectic day with something fun and educational? Looking for a great reward for students that will make valuable use of free time? Looking to reinforce basic skills with a fun activity? These games will fill the bill!

Included in this 80-page booklet you'll find these games and more:

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Education World now incorporates www.SchoolNotes.com ~ "everybody on the same page!" The leading school-to-home communications platform, with FREE pages for teachers and automatic notification of parents and students when new homework is posted!

For a modest $24.95 PER YEAR, upgrade to Personal Edition, "Super SchoolNotes," with thousands of resources linked to your state's standards.

Click here for more information.

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MORE FEATURES OF INTEREST!

Professional Development Newsletter Sign up now!
Education World MarketPlace Books, electronics, insurance, travel, more.
Printables Library You're sure to find great resources here.
Meet Our Columnists Experts from many areas of the "education world."
Teaching Themes for Early Childhood Sue LaBella offers holiday ideas, more.
Classroom Organization Tips Ideas (and photos) that you can easily adapt.
Stress Relief Kit Take a deep breath. Then take a look here.
Classroom Management 101 Real teachers share what they are doing to manage real classrooms.
News for Kids News of our world written with kids in mind. Teacher's Guide included.

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