This year, abcteach is excited to be celebrating its 10th anniversary online. As we consider our goals and plans for future projects, we are seeing interesting milestones along the way. One such milestone will be the number of custom-made documents created using ABCTOOLS by our members and visitors to abcteach.com. We are quickly reaching our one millionth custom-made document. The lucky member who creates that millionth document will receive a free one-year membership. If you are a member, we are getting close, so you might want to create a word search, generate a math page, or produce a spelling list.

This month abcteach is introducing our Interactive section. We are testing a few Notebook files for our Smartboard users. Those who do not have Smart software can use the Smart Notebook Interactive Viewer and use the interactive file on their computers. For your free download, visit the Smart website. We plan to build this section each week, so watch your newsletters or the “What’s New” section for the latest additions.

This February, visit our Valentine’s Day section for a wide variety of fun materials. Also, check out our Presidents’ Day and Black History Month materials.

Sandy Kemsley, Founder

A special thank you to those of you who visited abcteach last year, and to those of you just finding out about us. In March 2010, we will be celebrating our 10th year online. Our goals today are the same as they were in 2000; to provide quality materials for teachers, homeschoolers, and parents.

We are planning new and creative activities this year. Our new Olympic materials will be added in time for the Winter Olympics, which are being held in Vancouver, British Columbia beginning February 12th. February 14th, will be the start of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Tiger.

Sign up for our free newsletter to get our monthly updates, or check them out online.

Enjoy the new year,

Sandy Kemsley, Founder

Another year is winding down and it is a good time to say thank you to the millions of visitors we have had this year. The Internet has allowed us to share our ideas with the world.

In 2010, abcteach will be celebrating its tenth year online. We look forward to bringing you more materials to help you teach your students and children. We are excited about the many new features that we plan to present on the site in the coming year.

My staff and I wish you the best of holidays.

Posted by Sandy Kemsley, Founder

In November, we observed Veterans Day with posters and poems, celebrated Thanksgiving with coloring pages, factual and fictional reading comprehension materials, and more. We expanded our “manners” materials, read The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and wished “Happy Birthday” to Sesame Street.

Like many of you, we are spending most of this month getting ready for Christmas. We currently have hundreds of Christmas documents, both secular and religious, from creative activities with candy canes to reading comprehension practice about holiday celebrations around the world. We also have coloring pages, worksheets, and games for other winter celebrations, including Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Watch the upcoming newsletters to see our featured seasonal material and catch all our colorful new pages as they are added.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in 2010, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

In October, we enjoyed the cooler fall weather, read Where the Wild Things Are, and celebrated Halloween. We featured great materials for several October observations, including Fire Safety and Italian Heritage.

In November, we’ll be observing Veterans Day with posters and poems, celebrating Thanksgiving with coloring pages, fact and fiction reading comprehension materials, and more. We can even help you get ready for Christmas. We’re also expanding our “manners” materials, with new posters and quizzes. Watch the upcoming newsletters to see our featured seasonal material and catch all our colorful new pages as they are added.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in 2010, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

Character Education

Many teachers went back to school in September, and abcteach was ready with hundreds of back-to-school materials, including bulletin board decorations, parent forms, and more. We took time for September holidays, celebrating Labor Day and Hispanic Heritage Month, relished the art of the argument with a new fallacy unit, and much more.

In October, we’re settling in with the cooler fall weather, getting ready to re-read Where the Wild Things Are and see the movie. We’re ready for Columbus Day and Halloween, and we have lots on hand for ongoing October observations, such as Fire Safety and Italian Heritage. In response to member requests, we’ll be adding some great new geometry pages (posters and practice). Watch the upcoming newsletters to see these colorful new pages as they are added.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in the upcoming school year, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

Posted by Anne Johnson, Editor

Learning centers can be an exciting addition to a classroom. They make it possible to offer a variety of activities that can be completed by students in teams or individually. Some planning and modeling in advance will help ensure successful learning centers.

The Basics:
Each learning center needs to be set up so that the students have all the materials and direction they need. This could include:

* a sign or label for the center – Math Center; Simple Machines: Lever
* clear directions or a stated goal for the center project
* all the materials needed in order to complete the activity

The current classroom lessons or themes will determine the type of learning centers you choose. There are several ways to organize learning centers. It isn’t necessary to organize all the centers in the same way. It is often useful to adapt several different approaches to fit the needs of the students. Organizational approaches include:

* By theme: Coral Reef, Simple Machines, Plants, etc.
* By learning styles: auditory, tactile, visual, etc.
* By subject: math, spelling, language, science, social studies, and computer skills.

Preparation:

* Take time to present each center.
* Explain the purpose of each center.
* Show the materials the students will be using.
* Go over the directions; show them where the directions will be posted.
* Review any reporting system or checklists that should be completed.
* Show where materials are stored between sessions (this could be folders, baskets, computer files…).
* Schedule help for younger students. Recruit students from upper grades, parents, seniors, high school co-op students, and so on for help.
* Take time to present the rules.
* Present the behavior expectations for each center.
* Demonstrate the expected behavior, and have students practice modeling the behavior. Examples of this might be:

• o practicing voice levels;
• o practicing walking from center to center;
• o practicing the appropriate handling of materials.

* Announce a planned phrase that you will use to get the attention of your entire class. The point is to have a phrase the students recognize. Tell them that by the time you finish the phrase they should all be still, quiet, and ready to listen. Practice this prior to using the learning centers. The phrase can vary by age group. Here are some suggestions:

• o For primary: 1, 2, 3, all eyes on me!
• o For elementary: May I please have your attention.

* Discuss the importance of respecting each team member’s materials and ideas, and of listening to one another. Appoint group leaders when necessary.

Setting up the classroom:
The way you set up learning centers in the classroom will depend on your class space and the method you use for learning centers. Center groups should generally not exceed five students. There are some basic set-ups that work well with any size class.

* Center areas can be placed around the room, including rug areas, reading nooks, and space outside the classroom. This is a good set-up if you will be teaching lessons and students will be using the centers at different times throughout the day.
* Centers can be organized in baskets that are put on tables or groups of desks during a designated center time. Students are then assigned to each center and rotate as scheduled or organized by you.
* Center folders can be assigned to groups. Each group of students working together can carry their materials with them to designated areas in the room.
* Computer activities will depend on your access to computers.

Records and Assessments:
How you assess the students will naturally vary with your teaching methods and types of learning centers you choose. I have found that even young students can self-assess and keep track of their work with help. Here are some ideas:

* checklists: Provide checklists for students to self-check the activities completed.
* Goal Sheets/Portfolio Assessments

• o How did I do today?
• o What would I like to do tomorrow?

* Final Assessments: Generally, the completion of the learning center task is assessed on the basis of pre-established criteria. Students can:

• o present their projects to the class
• o turn in projects for teacher evaluation
• o self-evaluate
• o have group/peer evaluations

Time for clean up:

* Allow plenty of time for orderly cleaning of each center. (about 5-10 minutes)
* Students should put the center materials back in place for the next group.
* Students should have a place to put their finished and unfinished work.

Posted by Sandy Kemsley, Founder

Free site users and members have been making use of our “back to school” materials. We have a collection of nearly a hundred back to school documents on the free site, and another two hundred on the member site. Whether you’re looking for desk tags, bulletin board ideas, “getting to know you” games, or large welcome posters, abcteach has you covered.

In September, we’re settling in with some great books, enjoying football season, celebrating Labor Day and Hispanic Heritage Month, relishing the art of the argument with our new fallacy unit, and so much more.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in the upcoming school year, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

Posted by Anne Johnson, Editor

I used worksheets in my classroom with great success! I would start with a single worksheet – a text, a chart, a photograph, or a research question – and expand it into a rich learning experience.

Example worksheet: a short text

1. Read the text with the class. The text could be projected on a screen, printed and distributed to individuals or groups, or whatever presentation method you like to use. *Please note that all abcteach “reading comprehensions” are followed by questions, but it is possible to just read the informative text with students and have them create their own questions.

2. Begin a “Question Brainstorm”. Let the questions flow, and record them. I used to use butcher block paper and post it on a big wall, but you could use computer programs or whiteboards as well. This gets updated daily.

3. Arrange students in groups according to their own interests. I found that giving students a choice of what they wanted to learn was a powerful motivation for them.

4. ALLOW TIME for research with a variety of media, web 2.0 connections, books/ebooks, etc.

5. Allow groups to plan their topics, methods of research, and final presentations to the class. Don’t limit the presentations to only paper projects, or only computer projects. Let them decide.

6. Integrate math, history, science, art, music, movement, and more into the topic.

Sample projects that my students created for a rain forest project (you could start with a picture of a rain forest animal, or a reading comprehension…):

* slideshow presentations. For example, a presentation of endangered rainforest animals, alternating photos and facts. This would be a great PowerPoint presentation, too. Graphing the declining rainforest populations is a good way to integrate math into this type of presentation. Drawing maps incorporates geography.

* games: board games and online interactive games. For example, a game where students draw questions about the rain forest and advance through the game by answering them. History blends in seamlessly here.

* drama: skits, plays ,puppet shows, movie presentations. This could be a play where rain forest animals talk about their homes, or where nature conservationists clash with farmers. This is a great area to incorporate music and movement.

* 3D models (now could be done on computer, but my students created them with hands-on materials). I think there is still a sense of satisfaction in creating things by hand, whether it’s a rainforest diorama or a model of the layers of the rain forest.

*booklets, journals, blogs, mini-websites. A journal about a trip to the rain forest is a great way to combine language arts and geography.

*tours: We turned our classroom into a rain forest full of facts for students to “read the room”. Some may want to create an online tour.

Posted by Sandy Kemsley, Founder

Free site users and members used lots of our July holiday materials - from patriotic writing prompts for Independence Day to coloring pages for Canada Day. We also saw lots of our summertime activities being downloaded - reading logs, crafts, projects, and more. Summer is a great time to explore abcteach. Parents can help their children keep up with what they learned in school, and teachers can get an early start on preparing a dazzling school year.

In August, we’re sure many of you are already focusing on back to school, and so are we. We have a collection of nearly a hundred back to school documents on the free site, and another two hundred on the member site. Whether you’re looking for desk tags, bulletin board ideas, “getting to know you” games, or large welcome posters, abcteach has you covered.

I hope you’ll let us know what you’ve used, what you’ve loved, and what you’d like to see more of in the coming months. Requests can take some time, so if there’s something you’d like to see in the upcoming school year, let us know now! We really do love hearing from our users.

Posted by Anne Johnson, Editor