Especially for Students

Thinking Blocks - Modeling Addition and Subtraction (1-300) : http://tinyurl.com/plmtjjh

Everything you want to know about Science Fair

Nutrition-Diet Food Science Experiments (special thanks to Alexa and Teresa Spivey's scientists for sharing!)

If the World Were a Village by David J. Smith

This highly informative book will get kids thinking and asking questions. It’s an eye-opener for all. These days, the world seems to be getting smaller. This timely, unique book enhances that sentiment. It is useful for a current understanding of the world’s population. Thought-provoking and highly effective, this world-in-miniature will open eyes to a wider view of our planet and its human inhabitants. This amazing book could be used in many different ways across the curriculum. Each chapter (on topics such as population, food and schooling) is accompanied by bright, folksy illustrations that make this global village look like a lively and interesting place. Includes a section on teaching children about the global village. The unique format shrinks the world’s population down to 100 and presents who we are, where we live, how fast we are growing, what languages we speak and more.

Brain Train Feature:

Writing Feature:

Enter your creative story or poem in one of WordPress' many writing contests! http://writingcontests.wordpress.com/

Study Tips
35 Must-Know Test-Taking Tips & Strategies (Thanks for sharing Daisy!)

Here are some of the best study techniques as well as some additional secrets to academic success from students themselves!

Find a Special Place

Perhaps it's a library, in the park, at the kitchen table, with a trusted friend/adult, or alone in your bedroom. Whatever place you feel you can focus and be most productive, try to make that your own special study spot. (Suggestions?)

Reduce Distractions

If noise distracts you, stay away from TVs, radio/CD players, etc. If you work best with soft music in the background, that's okay too! But it's usually not a good idea to study with the TV on, regardless of your noise tolerance. Turn off your cell phone/IM devices (but ask your parents first!). If you decide to study with a buddy or a group, set a clear amount of time (5-10 minutes) at the beginning and end of the study session to talk about non-study topics, but make a commitment to each other to focus on the study material during the main time frame of study. (Suggestions?)

Create a Response

Respond to what you are studying. You can make an outline, diagram, chart, create an acronym, explain it to a friend, teach it to a parent, express it through art/illustration, make up a chant/song/rap, journal a personal connection to the learning material, find an example in real life, create an analogy, make up a simile, create a fact flipbook, act it out with your study buddy/group, hold a group discussion or Question/Answer session, create a game out of the material, etc.

If you don't already know some of your learning style preferences, you can discover your own learning styles here. Or you can experiment by trying some of the different suggestions above & see which activities help you to remember the study material the best... then re-use your favorites & search for more response strategies like them! (Suggestions?)

Keep Track of Your Progress

Ask yourself these 3 questions after your study session:

1. Is the study place I chose helping me relax & focus on the material?

2. How many times did I get distracted? (If your answer is frequently, how can you modify your study environment to minimize distractions?)

3. How effective was my response to the material? Will I remember it for a day, a week, a month?

(Suggestions?)

Student Study Suggestions:

"Little brothers do NOT make good study partners!"

"I eat a snack before I study so I'm not hungry and thinking about dinner when I'm trying to study"

"If I make the charts in different colors it helps. I can write about desert animals in brown marker and sea creatures in blue and tropical animals in orange. It helps me to see the page (remember it) when I take a test"

A special thanks to Nancy Cashian's Summer Excellence students for sharing this wonderful Test Taking Tips link:

http://www.veritasprep.com/online-reference-for-test-preparation/

Community Projects

Box Top Fundraiser
http://www.boxtops4education.com/AboutBoxTops/

Especially for Students

The creation of a thousand forests

is in one acorn.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson