Save and Reuse Your Tin/Aluminum Food Cans

For both environmental and economical reasons, we could all do with reducing, reusing, and recycling more often. Case in point: the numerous organizers and containers we buy that could easily be replaced with repurposed food tins.

We all buy food items in aluminum (or tin) cans--ravioli, soup, baked beans, you name it. Most of us are conscientious enough to put our used tin cans in the recycling bin.

But why not wash them out and reuse them?

First, you'll need a smooth-edge can opener like the OXO Good Grips Smooth Edge Can Opener. This leaves a smooth edge on both the can and the lid.

FYI: Leave the label on, and you've got a "dummy can" that can fool burglers. Stash emergency cash or expensive jewelry in it, place the lid back on, and put it back in your pantry. With the label intact, a thief will never guess what's really hidden inside!

For everyday stuff, peel off the label before washing the can. (Place the lid in the recycling bin.) Voila! There you are--a can that can be used for storing any number of things around the house, garage, or classroom.

Use it for:

1. Pen and pencil bin.
2. Paint brushes (or paint).
3. Loose "junk" in a drawer.

Crafty? Wrap the tin can in black gaffer tape or designer duct tape. You can even use fancy chalkboard sticker labels to label each can's contents.

There's no need to stop with tin cans. To the left is a creamer bottle I washed. It used to contain powdered cream for my coffee. The creamer label was a wrapped plastic sheet that tore away easily. I filled it with extra pencils. I can unscrew the top if I want, or pop the top and "pour" out one pencil at a time. I can mark each bottle "colored pencils" or "markers" or "sharpies" using a sharpie, or using the fancy chalkboard labels already mentioned.

The plastic tubs keep markers from drying out! I use enough creamer in my coffee (and I drink A LOT of coffee) to collect many of these. They are very convenient for organizing student materials.

In junior and senior high school Social Studies/History classes, we write and draw on a lot of maps. The trick? Keep about a dozen of these, filled with a handful of colored pencils, markers, etc., as well as an inexpensive 6" ruler. (With high school kids, I've cut freebie bendable plastic rulers in half!) When map time comes around, each pair of students (or each student, if there are enough containers) gets a plastic bottle of drawing supplies. It's so easy and convenient! And with screw-on lids, the contents don't fall out.

The moral of this story? Think before you toss items into the recycling bin. Take the container, remove its labels, and wash it out. Give it a long, hard look. What can you use it for? You'd be surprised how many ideas come to mind.

Tricks:

• Use an orange peel to remove gummy labels (soaking in warm water also works).
• Use nail polish remover to remove stamped-on expiration dates.
• Use duct tape to cover up labels that can't be removed.

Reign Television Series on CW

October 19, 2014 (New York, NY) - Reign is a television program aired on the CW network. It is very loosely based on the life of Mary Queen of Scots, focusing on her marriage to Francis of France. Currently in its second season, this television series is best described as historical fiction. The real Mary Queen of Scots (lived 1542-1587) was married, as a young girl, to the Dauphin of France, the future Francis II (lived 1544-1560), son of Henry II (lived 1519-1559) and Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589). Continue reading

Capitalizing Titles

Sometimes we find something online, and can only ask, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Here is an instant title capitalization service. Enter your title in the box, and presto, it's correctly capitalized for you. Ingenious!

Girls Who Code: Encouraging Young Women to Study Computer Science

"Women represent 12% of all computer science graduates. In 1984, they represented 37% of all computer science graduates." This, according to Girls Who Code, an organization aimed at introducing girls to the world of computer coding. Clubs are forming around the United States.

Computer coding--creating and maintaining the blips and bleeps behind the technology (cell phone apps, computer programs, software, etc.) that we all rely on more and more each day--is a growing and lucrative field. The diminishing number of females studying in this area means that many women will be locked out of the computing career field.

This is a field with which we all should be familiar in order to participate in the career market of the future. If you have a daughter or teach female students, the Girls Who Code website is worth checking out.

Free 2014-2015 Monthly School Calendar

This simple 12-month academic calendar, with plenty of space for writing notes, is free to print here. It runs from August of 2014 through July of 2015.

Our Visitors Are Growing

We're thrilled to see the number of worldwide visitors to the site continue to grow. Today, our top countries so far are:

1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. India
6. Philippines
7. United Arab Emirates
8. Thailand
9. Pakistan
10. South Africa

To learn more about these countries, click on them!

Why Students Should Learn Cursive Writing

Time last week published an article on recent legislative overtures to require the teaching of cursive script handwriting in schools. The article lists requirements for signatures, benefits to cognition, and the ability to read important documents (such as the Declaration of Independence), among the reasons students should learn cursive in school. Writer Katy Steinmetz states, regarding historical documents: "(W)hat a travesty it is to raise Americans who would look at those documents as if they were written in hieroglyphics."

As a classroom teacher, I witnessed instruction in cursive script writing diminish as No Child Left Behind was implemented. Reasons given were that test preparation left no time for cursive. And besides, everyone will forego writing by hand in favor of computers. As a junior and senior high school history teacher, I found these reasons appalling.

Time writer Katy Steinmetz is correct in pointing out what a travesty it would be if American students could not read the Emancipation Proclamation in its original form. But there are other, more pragmatic reasons for learning cursive writing.

• People write in cursive. All around the world, people write using cursive script. These people could be future employers, coworkers, instructors, and the like. Imagine a child getting a letter in cursive that he or she cannot decipher. Imagine this child as an adult at a job, being handed a piece of paper that cannot be read because it is written in cursive. Students who do not learn cursive are at a disadvantage in the larger world of work (and life).

• Most tests and exams are still written by hand. This is why the focus on test preparation over cursive instruction was so perplexing to me. Had these anti-cursive teachers never taken a college admissions exam, or blue book test in college? Standardized tests require pen and paper, seldom offering an online typing option. Write in print, you say? I challenge anyone to start copying this article. Do a few paragraphs in print, then a few paragraphs in cursive. Which is faster? Which allows your hand to better keep pace with your brain? For the vast majority of people, the answer is cursive. Writing in cursive means writing more quickly. Additionally, you will likely find that the fluid movement means that writing in cursive causes less hand and arm strain. You not only write more quickly, but you do not tire out as easily as you do when writing in print manuscript.

No cursive means looking like a dumbie at work, and possibly receiving lower scores on written tests and exams. To elaborate on the first point--effectiveness on the job--allow me to list a few professions in which one could never succeed without cursive reading and writing skills.

• Lawyer. Lawyers must sift through mountains of documents, many handwritten in cursive. A lawyer who can't read documents is not much of a lawyer.

• Teacher. Many teachers forego cursive instruction in their classrooms, but need it themselves to read notes from parents, etc. And how could such a teacher teach, in a school where cursive writing is taught?

• Historian. As noted above, historical documents are often in cursive. Likewise, most personal letters, diaries, and private memoirs are in script. A historian who can't read history is not much of a historian.

• Police officer or detective. Again, these are careers that involve the reading of written words.

Challenge yourself. Take a week, and note each time you come into contact with cursive writing. Chances are high that it's often. Each time you see cursive writing, imagine what it would be like if it were written in an alphabet you do not know--perhaps Cyrillic or ancient Sumerian. Then ask yourself if students should be taught cursive writing in school. If your answer is yes, then you might enjoy our cursive writing practice worksheets. They're completely free to print and use. (Psst...we offer free worksheets for print manuscript handwriting practice, as well.)

Classroom Rewards Spelling Game

Here is a fun classroom rewards game that will not cost you anything.

#1 Print out two sets of these sheets. We recommend one set on white paper, and one set on colored paper. (The contrast makes it easier to see, at a glance, how much progress has been made.)

#2 Cut apart the letters on the colored sheets and place them into a bag or jar.

#3 Cut apart the whole phrases on the white sheets (such as "movie day") and place them on the board. You might want to laminate these sheets first for durability.

#4 When a child does something extraordinarily well, that child gets to pull a letter from the jar and place it over a corresponding letter on the board.

#5 When a reward has been completely spelled, the class gets to do the reward.

Benefits: (1) Free for the teacher! (2) Students get credit for individual merit. (3) All students ultimately benefit, and therefore are predisposed to encourage their classmates to do well and earn letters.

Tip: Don't like a reward? Leave it out! You don't have to use all of them.

Click here to print and for complete instructions and tips.

Centurion (2010)

Written and directed by Neil Marshall, Centurion seizes upon the legend of Rome's Ninth Legion, believed for centuries to have been lost to the Picts of ancient Scotland. The story begins with the decimation of the Ninth Legion, then follows a small group of Roman survivors as they try to escape their native enemies. The big problem for history teachers is that there is no evidence for any of this. On the contrary, archaeologists working in Germany have discovered evidence of the Ninth Legion along the Rhine River years after this story, indicating that the legion was relocated rather than wiped out. Continue reading...

New Stuff for May

Whether you're capping off the end of the year, or getting things together to keep the kids busy and learning over summer vacation, we've got plenty of new items for you. Here's a sampling:

Five Parts of a Story - Worksheet asks students to describe the five basic parts of a story in their own words.

Comma Catastrophe Worksheet #1 - Students are tasked to rewrite seven sentences, adding commas where necessary; grade 5.

Sort by A Sound Worksheet - Students sort sixteen terms by long a or short a sound; for kindergarten.

Social Media Madness Worksheet #1 - Worksheet contains six actual, awful posts that individuals published on social media sites, which students are asked to properly rewrite; grades 9-12.

Amazing Adjectives Worksheet - Students select and circle adjectives from 36 given words; for grades K-2.

Christopher Columbus Mini-Unit Workbook - This is designed for students in grades 2-4, depending upon individual reading level. This workbook is ten pages in length, and includes work in history/social studies, spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Informational text for Common Core.

Capitalization Worksheet - Students are tasked to rewrite six sentences using correct capitalization; kindergarten.

Action Verbs Activity Cards - Printable action verb cards and instructions for a fun learning activity; kindergarten (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.5.D).

Adjective Writing Worksheet - Handwriting and spelling worksheet featuring the terms: amazing, extraordinary, fantastic, spectacular, stupendous, and wonderful (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.F).

20 Most Expensive Cities in the World to Rent a Home

CNN released a list of the top twenty most expensive cities in the world to live.

1. Monte Carlo
2. London
3. New York
4. Tokyo
5. Moscow
6. Hong Kong
7. Bermuda
8. Paris
9. Geneva
10. Singapore
11. Sydney
12. Kiev
13. Helsinki
14. Tel Aviv
15. Amsterdam
16. Rome
17. Tortola
18. Auckland
19. Toronto
20. Grand Cayman

Possible activities and questions for World Geography:

• Locate each city on the globe.
• Research each city's (and each country's) per capita income.
• Why might someone choose to live in such an expensive place?
• What makes this place so expensive?
• Research apartment and home prices to check the accuracy of the CNN article.

Interesting Perspective on Modern Education by Sebastian Faulks

A Week in December  by Sebastian Faulks (New York: Doubleday, 2009) features a character discussing modern education:

"Well...I suppose I was lucky enough to be educated at a time when teachers still thought children could handle knowledge. They trusted us. Then there came a time when they decided that because not every kid in the class could understand or remember those things, they wouldn't teach them anymore because it wasn't fair on the less good ones. So they withheld knowledge. Then I suppose the next lot of teachers didn't have the knowledge to withhold." (p. 304)

. . .

"... But it was only the twentieth century in Europe that had universal education and the belief in progress--a net gain of knowledge among all. And that's now been abandoned as a goal."

"It was too difficult. People weren't prepared to put in the hours on the donkey work--you know, dates and facts and so on. I think in retrospect my generation will be seen as a turning point. From now on there'll be a net loss of knowledge in Europe. The difference between a peasant community in fourteenth-century Iran and modern London, though, is that if with their meager resources the villagers occasionally slipped backward, it was not for lack of trying. But with us, here in England, it was a positive choice. We chose to know less." (p. 305)

. . .

"... I suppose it was a dream that lasted really about fifty years. By the time universal education had begun to work properly, say 1925, and the time the first teachers started to hold back information, say 1975. So a fifty-year dream."

"... Maybe it doesn't matter. I think what's happened is that because they themselves know less than their predecessors, innovators and leaders today have remade the world in their own image. Spellchecks. Search engines. They've remodeled the world so that ignorance is not really a disadvantage. And I should think that increasingly they'll carry on reshaping the world to accommodate a net loss of knowledge." (p. 306)

The character's observations speak to (according to many leaders in education) a lot of the reluctance--the psychological and mental barriers--of teachers regarding implementation of the Common Core.

Omar (2013) Movie Review

Mr. Watson wrote a terrific review of Oscar-nominated Omar (2013) for the site.

Omar (2013) is a Palestinian film that presents the political conflict that divides this Middle Eastern territory through the perspective of its young people. It is filmed in Arabic with English subtitles, and in addition to profanity and gun violence, it contains scenes of intense and extreme, bloody torture. It is absolutely not for young children, but older teenagers should be able to handle watching it. Parents are advised to use their best judgment.

Click here to continue reading.