“Unit study” is the name given to a type of curriculum tool where one topic is taken and looked at, or studied from many different aspects. They are called “cross-curricular” in approach, looking at the given topic across many areas of learning including science, history, geography, literature, and others. A unit study can be called
Good Writing. What is it? Everyone has an opinion, but opinions differ widely. While one language arts curriculum infers that simply adding in more adjectives will “improve” sentences, other experts ‘quoting Mark Twain’ suggest that adjectives and adverbs should be hunted down and killed. Although most people would agree that clear and to-the-point writing is
Common Mistakes and some options for teachers We’ve all suffered it at one time or another: Frustration about writing assignments. Either on the receiving end, or perhaps now on the giving end, there can be a few distinctly discouraging aspects to teaching and being taught writing. The tough questions include: What to correct and how
As in many areas of education, the “skill” of writing has been elevated to the status of “art,” which it rightfully should be. However, this has often been to the detriment of children. Equating “good” with “creative” and “creative” with “good,” many teachers, schools and curriculum publishers have taken an approach to teaching which more
Teaching children to write is a monumental task. However, by engaging children in the process of writing, it can be as easy as one, two, three. The process of writing involves following simple steps in order to produce a final document. These steps include brainstorming ideas, webbing or mind-mapping, writing, editing, revising, and finally sharing
Writing is an extremely complex process that requires the brain to do many different things at once: form an idea, put that idea into words, think about how to spell those words, consider what to capitalize and how to punctuate, and remember how to form letters (or where to find them on a keyboard). In
By Christine Field It is said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Flattery, yes, but modeling and walking in the footsteps of masters, both forms of imitation, are also effective tools of instruction. When I was a music major in undergraduate school, I listened to my favorite artist play the classics. My
By Yvonne Mutch Introducing children to the skill of writing need not be an ominous task. One must merely keep in mind that young children are also young thinkers who need exposure to the world of ideas before they can be expected to put their thoughts into complete and coherent sentences. Often, young students