Brain Breaks with GoNoodle

Implementation of Break Breaks Develops Students Memory and Fluency in Common Core Subjects GoNoodle is a free website that can be found at www.GoNoodle.com and can be accessed from any classroom or home.  GoNoodle works with Common Core subject experts to create brain breaks that develop memory and fluency in math, spelling, and vocabulary in the form of […]

WIDA English Learner Standards and School-wide Professional Development

Staff Meetings Increased Teachers’ Knowledge of the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Rhoades Elementary, in the MSD of Wayne Township, Indianapolis, is a Title I building with approximately 25% of our students identified as English learners. With Indiana’s adoption of the College & Career Ready and WIDA ELD* Standards, it became increasingly important to build […]

Black History Month Essay Contest

Essay Contest Brings Local Students and Their Community Together Anderson High School actively sought community participation in sponsoring a Black History Month Essay Contest taking place during the month of February.  This was a school-wide initiative implemented during our 8-Step Process Success Period. Writing skills are constantly practiced and reinforced across all content areas at […]

Use of Quarter Courses to Increase Curriculum Diversity for High Ability High School Students

Quarter Length Courses Allow Students the Choice Between Multiple Narrowly Focused Subject Matters Throughout the Semester Quarter courses were developed to increase the diversity of courses available to high ability students.  Courses last for half a semester and are usually developed in pairs taught by the same instructor.  Topics for quarter courses are usually more narrowly […]

The Shot Heard Round the Town: Engaging Young Children in the Work of Social Justice

Students Concerns Spark Community Involvement When students became concerned with gunshots they were hearing in their neighborhood, we were called into action. Leaving this teachable moment as just a classroom discussion left us feeling unsatisfied. As early childhood educators, we were not able to give our students the answers they desired on gun violence. We sought […]

Cultural Literacy in English Enrichment

Enrichment Course Enhances Students Knowledge of Cultural Experiences The English Enrichment courses at Muncie Community Schools were designed to provide students with extra exposure and practice in key English/Language Arts skills. As an entirely new class, this meant developing a course from nothing. I hired on to teach this course last year, and decided immediately to turn […]

Success

Remediation, Maintenance, and Enrichment Period Helps Students Achieve Success We offer a Success period at the beginning of each day. Our periods are tiered into three levels for both math and ELA. We have remediation, maintenance, and enrichment. Our enrichment period is project and community-based learning with the current math and ELA standards wrapped into […]