by Brian Crawford | Nov 29, 2015 | Resources for Parents, Resources for Teachers, Teaching Resources, Teaching Tips
Thanksgiving is over, November is drawing to a close, and the Christmas lights are popping up all over the neighborhood! It is time to get ready for the holiday season. I for one am excited about it. Teaching during Christmastime If you’re a teacher or a...
by Brian Crawford | Nov 22, 2015 | Handouts, Language Arts, Reading, Teaching Resources
Thanksgiving week has arrived! I hope that you and the people you care about have lots to be thankful for this year. Reading over the Thanksgiving break The Thanksgiving break is a fun time for kids to do some reading. The weather is cooler; you can head outside and...
by Brian Crawford | Jul 19, 2015 | Common Core, Common Core Literacy, Common Core Math, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Language Arts, Mathematics, Second Grade, Sixth Grade, Third Grade
Plenty of subjects get taught in schools – science, history, geography, art – but there’s no denying that, at least where the Common Core is concerned, the focus seems to be on mathematics and English language arts. Normally, math and technology...
by Brian Crawford | Jul 14, 2015 | Common Core, Common Core Math, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Handouts, Second Grade, Sixth Grade, Third Grade
It’s great to get kids solving problems, and the tried and true method for doing this is the worksheet. I myself filled out hundreds of worksheets during my wild and crazy ride through those school-aged years. I’m sure you did too. But while rote problem...
by Brian Crawford | Jun 29, 2015 | Fifth Grade, Fourth Grade, Handouts, Second Grade, Sixth Grade, Teaching Resources, Third Grade
Summertime is here, and the living is easy. And here in Florida, it’s also hot! Back to School Questions It’s only late June, so there’s lots of time left before you have to think about heading back to school. But it’s going to happen...
by Brian Crawford | May 3, 2015 | Sports, Teaching Tips
This evening, Yvonne and our son are running the final Expedition Everest Challenge at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I’m hanging out at home with our daughter; though we didn’t run this particular race, we went for a walk in town to see an art show, had a...
by Brian Crawford | Mar 23, 2015 | Fifth Grade, Fourth Grade, Language Arts, Literacy, Second Grade, Sixth Grade, Teaching Tips, Third Grade
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) places an emphasis on having students express their opinions in both speech and writing. For example, CCSS.W.1, the first Common Core writing standard for the first grade, reads: “Write arguments to support claims in an...
by Brian Crawford | Jan 28, 2015 | Science, Teaching Tips
In my previous post, I discussed how our middle school-aged son was tasked to complete his science project like an actual project. Along the way to the completion of the final project, he had to accomplish a series of tasks with a series of completion dates throughout...
by Brian Crawford | Jan 25, 2015 | Science, Teaching Tips
Well do I remember that day in the early fall when our middle school-aged son came home and uttered those words that every parent has come to dread: “We have to do a science project”. I have memories of working on my own science projects in elementary and...
by Brian Crawford | Jan 5, 2015 | Computer Science, Teaching Tips
Have you ever heard of a Raspberry Pi? It’s a tasty slice of technology! The Raspberry Pi is a $35 computer from the United Kingdom, designed to help children learn computer programming. It’s not difficult to set up (though you need to supply your own...