When we write a deductive lesson, we purposefully plan around a juicy big idea and then let our students prove or disprove it with specific evidence.
All AboutNo Category
Sharing Byrdseed
Frequently, people email to ask my permission to share a resource from Byrdseed in a presentation. Yes! Absolutely. Don’t even ask!
21st Century Careers: Shaun Inman
I’ve written about people creating interesting new careers as part of the 21st century. Shaun is another fascinating example…
Five Examples of Origins
Some fascinating origins that might interest your students and provide you with a great hook for a lesson: the first photo, school mascots, early bikes, Ronald McDonald, and animated cave paintings.
6 Behind The Scenes Links
Nothing ignites creative thought like seeing what it’s like “behind the scenes!” Here are six links detailing the process of everything from creating beautiful McDonald’s hamburgers to a writing a clever Pixar story.
Teaching Search Skills
We begin our year with an ancient tools projects. Students build the tools that early man would have access to. Naturally, many students want to build spears. We type “spears” into Google. Guess what comes up? That’s right: page after page about Britney Spears.
Go Deep With Christmas Trees
Naturally, the origin of a topic is a great place to start, and the Christmas tree has quite a twisty, knotted history. Some trace the roots of the tree-decorating tradition back to ancient winter celebrations. However, the use of decorated trees as a Christmas-specific decoration is surprisingly new, appearing in the last 500 years or so.
Getting Music Into The Classroom
Ever since, I’ve used Morris’ idea, and played the theme from The Andy Griffith Show as a cue for students to return to their seats. These musical transitions have saved my voice years of wear and tear. Here are some of the ways I’ve been getting music into my classroom
Thanksgiving’s Thursday Origins
Teaching students about the first Thanksgiving feast is standard fare in the primary grades, yet there is a gold mine of fascinating information about the origin of Thanksgiving’s date. It’s a bizarre history that will intrigue your students and could lead down some interesting avenues!
A Yardstick Of Quality
Our gifted students can do grade-level work with little instruction, but how do we demand excellence?
7 Ways To Use Film In The Gifted Classroom
I am consistently amazed that so few of my students have experienced classic films such as The Wizard of Oz, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and It’s A Wonderful Life. Movies like these are cultural milestones that enrich students lives and connect them to a larger community. It is important to expose students to these sorts of classics.
From Apathy To Flow
It’s our job to draw out the excited learner inside our gifted students. Finding the right connection of skill and challenge is one way to accomplish this. Students with a low skill level working with a low level of challenge are destined to be apathetic. Pump up the challenge without increasing skill and your students become worried and anxious.