Did you know that the Central Intelligence Agency has a site that is great for classroom use? In addition to maps and pictures of flags, The World Factbook gives updated information about the history, government, economy, and other issues for "267 countries or entities." For me it is a good replacement for the set of encyclopedias I started my teaching career with. (Yes, I have been teaching a while.)
As someone who enjoys spy novels, I probably like the idea of using spy resources more than I should.
Update: Here is a graphic organizer for a country report.
Several of my students recommended that I read a Big Nate book, so I added this one to my summer reading list. I have to say that I wasn't impressed. I can't be the only educator that is tired of books aimed at students that poke fun at school. I find it difficult enough to get students motivated to take their learning seriously. I will not be buying this book for my classroom library. There is enough sarcasm and disrespect in the world without my having to promote it.
For an explanation of my rating scale, click here.
Find me at Goodreads.
Today is the ninth day of the school year and I wanted to report my progress toward implementing the Daily 5 in my fourth grade classroom. After reading The Daily 5 , I discovered toward the end of the book the authors recommend only using three of the five in an intermediate classroom: Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing. As my students build endurance, I have been able to give my students a quick screening tool and begin running records. I am currently reading The CAFE book and I have begun building my assessment notebook.
I would love to hear about other teacher's successes and challenges using this program.
“If school’s function is to create the workers
we need to fuel our economy, we need to change school, because the workers we
need have changed as well.”
Seth Godin
in Stop Stealing Dreams
Section 6 “Changing what we get, because we’ve changed what we need”
