Arcadia Public Library

Kelly Gallagher's Twenty questions is an alternative to traditional high school homework assignments that fosters greater text comprehension. The simple design - students write twenty questions as they read assigned text - belies the complexity of the discussion fostered by the student-generated questions. On this day, students use the assignment to respond to George Orwell's 1984 in small-group and whole-class discussions. About the author: Kelly...

A small Tennessee town gained national attention in 1925 when a biology schoolteacher was arrested for violating state law and teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in the classroom.

The goal of teaching is to promote independent learning so reading and writing becomes a lifelong habit. As children become better readers, they also become better writers. A workshop format provides a literacy context for building connections between the reading and writing processes. About the author: Carla Soffos is a literacy specialist with the Arkansas Department of Education. She has twenty-one years of experience in education, including teaching...

How can we teach today's students to write with clarity, passion, and purpose? How can we move all students, even those who struggle or are reluctant, forward in their skills as writers? In Improving Adolescent Writers, Kelly Gallagher invites you into his classroom for an in-depth look at ways to successfully answer these questions, and more. Through a variety of methods, modeling, mid-process assessment, small-group conferring, grammar and editing...

Take your kids from browsing to building the web with Help Your Kids With Computer Coding. Computer programming is one of the fastest-growing industries and highest paid college degrees, and learning to code promotes a way of thinking helpful for every budding brain. Yet 9 out of 10 schools don't even offer computer science classes to students, according to code.org. Help correct this disparity by introducing your kids to the world of computer programming...

Four young primary school students are encountering problems in the schoolyard. Peer mediators are assigned to help sort out their issues - without teacher involvement - by listening, understanding and empowering them to agree on a solution. Peer mediation is an effective initiative to enable intervention with minor issues and prevent them from becoming major problems and learning distractions. Older students, equipped with training and a mediator's...

Learning to read and write can be fun! By identifying individual needs and implementing effective teaching methods, students can be motivated to learn through creative programs and word games that students enjoy. This program demonstrates shared reading, guided reading, and uses "Learning Centres" to: Make the learning focus clear through rephrasing, reinforcement and summarising Encourage students to predict, reflect, discuss and support each other....

Modern yoga, that is, the form practiced daily by tens of millions of people around the world, goes back directly to the god Shiva according to Indian tradition. At the same time, however, modern yoga originated in the early 20th century - a creation of Indian savant T. Krishnamacharya (1888-1989). That story is far less known. Krishnamacharya's life and teachings are seen through the eyes of the director Jan Schmidt-Garre on his search for authentic...