TED-Ed and Khan Academy: Revolutionizing and Democratizing Education

You're probably familiar with TED Talks, but did you know the non-profit recently launched an educational YouTube channel and website especially for teachers to share and customize videos?

TED-Ed is a platform utilizing the "flipped learning" model to allow users to edit accompanying supplementary materials, such as follow-up questions (in multiple-choice or open-ended-answer format) and assignments, thus creating new lessons, which then become shareable. Teachers can track students' progress on the assignments or questions (who has opened the lesson, what questions were completed and, with multiple-choice questions, which ones were correct), and students can watch videos and complete questions at their own pace, both in class or at home. Each new, flipped lesson is stored on its own page, which can be shared via email, Facebook, and Twitter. And users aren't limited to just flipping TED-Ed videos; they can use any video from YouTube to create lessons, as long as that video allows third-party embedding.

Learn more about this innovative tool, its advisors, and "Flip Teaching" here. For more education videos, browse the equally impressive and free Khan Academy website, which includes first-rate videos, lessons, and tools for assessing student performance. The idea behind that site is that anyone--students, home-schoolers, teachers, parents, administrators--should be able to get a world-class education for free.

Fab Friday Giveaway: 20-in-10 and Student Engagement is FUNdamental!

Now that the tests are done, i'ts time for a little fun!

Add hands-on activities to your lesson plan that teach academic skills and build rapport . . . because Student Engagement is FUNdamental:Building a Learning Community with Hands-on Activities to learning!     

Jane Feber's classroom-proven activities for Grades 4-8 are fun, flexible, and aligned to the Common Core. From a personal website poster to prefix-themed cootie catcher, these simple projects are ready to go with materials lists and directions, they fit seamlessly into any teaching day and curriculum.  

Click here for a Sample Activity from the book, the complete Introduction, and a peek at the Table of Contents.

And those in the younger grades shouldn't feel left out! With writing educator Luana K. Mitten and Grammy® Award-winning children’s songwriters Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, 20-in-10: Linking Music and Literacy with Twenty, Ten-Minute Mini-Lessons and Activities for Primary Learners shows you how to integrate music and literacy in your K-2 classroom! 

Ten original songs on the included CD are the subject of twenty standards-based mini-lessons that allow you to teach listening, visualization, letter and sound identification, movement, and specific writing-craft skills. Use the short, music-linked literacy lessons during transitions to calm or energize students and as an instructional tool to bolster reading fluency across the content areas. 

This collection of musically inspired “mini-teaching moments” will delight and motivate students and fill your class with song!

Click here for a Sample Activity and free Song Lyrics from the 20-in-10.

Want your own copy of one of these titles? Win a free e-book of either title by "liking" Maupin House on Facebook and being one of the first 5 fans to comment on our most recent post about this giveaway.

Happy Friday!

Julia Graddy, Publisher
Maupin House Publishing

Thanks and Savings for Teacher Appreciation Week

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we would like to thank all of the incredible educators who work so hard to make a difference in the lives of students by offering 20% off and free shipping sitewide. The sale runs now through Sunday night, but we extend our sincere thanks year-round. Enter coupon code THANKS12 at checkout to claim your savings.

Attend these Maupin House author sessions at IRA!

Are you attending the International Reading Association's 57th Annual Convention in Chicago this year? If so, we want to help you plan your busy schedule! All the choices can be a little overwhelming, so we've compiled a complete list of the Maupin House speakers and topics for you to peruse:

Sun., April 29th 

Deirdre Godin 

Session: Unit Projects that Work: Create Amazing Comprehensive Keepsake Books Based on Common Core State Standards. A Project/Product-based Assessment.

Time of Session: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Location: McCormick Place-West, Room W176C
"Meet the Author" Booth Time:
April 30, 2012 from 1 p.m.-2 p.m.
About the Author: Deirdre Godin is the author of Amazing Hand-On Literature Projects for Secondary Students.

Mon., April 30th

Jane Feber

Session:Motivating the Unmotivated Through Student Engagement

Time of session: 3 p.m.-4 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place-West, Room W183C
"Meet the Author" Booth Time:
April 30, 2012 from 12 p.m.-1 p.m. & 4:15 p.m.-5 p.m.
About the Author: Jane Feber is the author of Active Word Play, Creative Book Reports, and Student Engagement is FUNdamental.

Michelle Kelley and Nicki Clausen-Grace

Session: Meeting the Challenges of the Common Core: Teaching Text Features in the Elementary School Classroom
Time of session: 3 p.m.-5:45 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place-West, Room W192A
"Meet the Author" Booth Time:
May 2, 2012 from 10 a.m.-11 a.m.
About the Authors: Michelle Kelley and Nicki Clausen-Grace are co-authors of Reading the Whole Page: Teaching and Assessing Text Features to Meet K-5 Common Core Standards.

Kathleen Kopp

Session: Using Leveled Text to Differentiate Instruction for Students in the Content Areas
Date/Time: 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place-West, Room W475B
"Meet the Author" Booth Time: May 1, 2012 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
About the Author: Kathleen Kopp is the author of Everyday Content-Area Writing, the Learning Through Writing Series, Strategies for Writing in the Science Classroom, and Strategies for Writing in the Social Studies Classroom.

Brod Bagert

Session: Using Poetry for Word Study, Fluency, and Comprehension Instruction
Time of Session: April 30, 2012 from 11 a.m.-1 :45 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place-West, Room W196A
"Meet the Author" Booth Time:
May 1, 2012 from 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
About the Author: Brod Bagert is the author of A Bullfrog at Cafe Du Monde, Hormone Jungle, Steel Cables, and Rainbows, Head Lice & Pea-Green Tile.

Tues., May 1st

Nancy Boyles

Session: Getting to the Heart of the Common Core State Standards: Designing and Implementing Powerful Comprehension Instruction
Time of Session: 2 p.m.-4:45 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place-West, Room W175A
"Meet the Author" Booth Time:
May 1, 2012 from 9:30 a.m.-10 a.m.
About the Author: Nancy Boyles is the author of Constructing Meaning Through Kid-Friendly Comprehension Strategy Instruction, Hands-On Literacy Coaching, Launching RTI Comprehension Instruction with Shared Readings, Rethinking Small-group Instruction in the Intermediate Grades, Teaching Written Response to Text, and That's a GREAT Answer!

Wed., May 2nd

Barbara Nelson, Cynthia Schofield, and Elaine Weber

Session: Guided Highlighted Reading: A Reading Strategy to Scaffold Students to Independent Reading of Difficult and Complex Texts from Common Core Appendix B
Time of Session: 9 a.m.-11:45 a.m.
Location: McCormick Place-West, Room W181C
"Meet the Author" Booth Time:
May 2, 2012 from 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
About the Authors: Barbara Nelson, Cynthia Schofield, and Elaine Weber are co-authors of Guided Highlighted Reading.  

Nile Stanley: Celebrating Poetry Year-Round

Click below to hear Nile recite one of his self-written poems!

Nile Stanley does it all—concerning poetry, that is. From light-hearted elementary school performances, readings at peace rallies, and poetry events for senior citizens, Nile shares his love of poetry with anyone and everyone. Nile, author of Creating Readers with Poetry, describes himself as, "a P.E. person—a poetry educator." While many teachers make poetry a single unit in their curriculum, Nile, a performance poet and professor at the University of North Florida, incorporates poetry into his lessons at every chance; he believes poetry to be the key to helping young students learn to read.

It all began in 1994 when Nile first saw a Poetry Alive performance, and admitted that he had never seen anything like it. Amazed by the group’s ability to perform all different genres of poetry, Nile decided to study with them. By the following year, he stopped lecturing and began performing.

Annually, Nile performs about 50 shows, most of which take place in Jacksonville, FL. He most recently performed at the University of North Florida Development Center and West Jacksonville Elementary, and Nile made Dr. Seuss the star of the show. Donning a classic striped Dr. Seuss hat, Nile performed works like The Lorax for an audience of students who also each received their own Dr. Seuss hat and book.

Some students were unable to attend the performance because the FCAT was scheduled for the same day. Nile’s comment on the subject: “We want more Cat in the Hat and less FCAT.”

Nile performs for students in Pre-K through 5^th grade because he loves their enthusiasm, and it affords him the opportunity to open students’ eyes to an art form that many of them have never before seen. With such a young audience, Nile says it’s a good place get creative and take chances.

Nile’s performances are a hit with anyone, especially children, because he doesn’t take poetry too seriously. Sometimes, he even adds music to his performances, playing instruments like the guitar or the ukulele.

“Young children like very silly poems. The type of poetry I do is more children’s poetry, it’s action-packed, it’s silly.”

As if weekly performances weren’t enough, Nile also leads two after-school poetry clubs, at Guardian Catholic Schools of Jacksonville, that have been around for six years. Funded by an annual gift of $15,000 from the Cummer Family Foundation, these clubs make it possible for students to learn about poetry outside the traditional classroom. Students have the chance to explore their creativity, write their own poems, and even perform for each other.

In regard to celebrating National Poetry Month, Nile feels it’s a great idea, and that the holiday’s placement right after the stress of high-stakes testing is especially fortuitous, because teachers are able to relax and explore poetry with their students.

Nile’s love of poetry crosses the globe as he will be travelling to China on May 10 for three weeks to be a Visiting Scholar at Shaanxi Normal University in Xian. There, Nile will teach a graduate seminar on learning theory. Nile will also be doing teacher professional development for pre-schools in China, and, yes, he will be performing.

Nile Stanley is a lover of poetry, and a firm believer in its power to teach, heal, and uplift.

“Poetry is life. Life is poetry. Some people don’t realize that ‘till it’s too late.”

Click below to hear Nile recite "Words" from Creating Readers with Poetry!
Words
Words text

A big thank you to school librarians everywhere!

As The Huffington Post's Brad Meltzer so eloquently points out, school librarians are everyday--and often unsung--heroes, and we need to support our school (and public) libraries to keep those heroes in our children's lives. National School Library Month is still going strong for the rest of April. Let's make sure our school libraries know we support them by advocating for funding, starting petitions on both local/school and national levels, and remembering to thank our tireless librarians for the work they do. A child's love of books starts at home, but school librarians make sure those books are available for everyone, create avenues for reading, teach media and technology literacy, and integrate programs with classroom curriculum to ensure students know how to find information and connect what they learn to their lives. These are not skills our children can afford to lose.

Poet discusses list of favorites, shares new poem

Kicking off the third week of National Poetry Month, we spoke with Brod Bagert, poet and author of Hormone Jungle, and Rainbows, Head Lice, & Pea-Green Tile. Bagert reveals his exclusive alliteration-themed poem and shares with us a list of his all-time favorite poems.

Q: Why do you love poetry, and when did you first discover this love? What does poetry mean to you?

A: It began in third grade when my teacher, Mrs. Toups, recited “Trees,” by Joyce Kilmer. The joy with which she read it was infectious. I was hooked; I wanted a poem that I could love the way Mrs. Toups loved “Trees.” That came in fifth grade, when Sr. Paula required each of us to select a poem, memorize it, and recite it for the class. I found “Sea Fever,” by John Masefield. It was the beginning of a life-long love affair.

Q: Why is poetry important in education? What does it bring to the classroom that no other subject or way of learning can bring?

A: Though it can be rendered in writing, language is oral, so mastering reading and writing without mastering oral presentation is a near impossibility. Poems produce powerful sound, laden with emotion and rich with metaphorically meaning.

Because poetry captures the reader’s identity and stimulates the reader’s sensory imagination, thoughts, and feelings, we become one with the language as we recite it. Physically, intellectually, and emotionally we are what the words say. When we recite in voice, we begin to write in voice, and when we write in voice, we hear voice when we read—an effect which I call the vortex of voice:

Not all poems produce the effect. For most of my life, I’ve been trying to understand the mechanisms by which the best poems do what they do and trying to create such poems of my own.

Q: Hormone Jungle is so unusual for a poetry book because it also has a narrative aspect and characters that the reader could confuse for real students. How did your idea for this book come about, and how did you decide that you wanted it to be so unique?

A: I don’t think I’ve ever said this publicly, but it actually came to me in a dream. I had written a bunch of poems in “middle school” voice, and many of them were quite good. However, a flaw revealed itself when I began to perform them for middle school students in Pennsylvania and realized there was no generalized “middle school” voice. The voices of young adults occur in a broad spectrum of fundamental varieties such as gender, personality, ethnicity, etc.

The poems I wrote were a fairly authentic replication of these varied voices, and during a performance, I could give an introduction to identify the voice of each poem. But how could I give readers of my book sufficient information in advance to identify the voice of each poem, without which the poem would make no sense?

This question simmered in my unconscious as I went to sleep, and at some point during the night, I awoke and scribbled down the notes that eight years later evolved into the structure of Hormone Jungle.

The eleven fictional characters of Hormone Jungle are often mistaken for real poets, which in a way is a very cool thing. They’re very real to me, especially Steven Gilley, whose personality is suspiciously similar to mine.

Brod’s List of Favorite Poems

- “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns
- “Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca” by Jose Marti
- “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town” by E.E. Cummings
- “I Died for Beauty” by Emily Dickinson
- “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” by William Shakespeare
- “Madam and her Madam” by Langston Hughes
- “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost

Brod Bagert's Exclusive Poem
No Alliteration