Sometimes you find interesting things in places you don’t expect.  While browsing I happened on the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising website for high school and college educators.  At first I just expected it to be a site students could use for research on the fashion industry, but I soon realized its greater potential. [...]

When I saw the Christian Marclay exhibit at the Whitney Museum in New York, I realized some of his works would be great for teaching onomatopoeia.  Marclay is an artist and composer who combines images and music to create graphic scores. To give you an example, in his exhibit ZOOM ZOOM, he created a slideshow [...]

I found this fun list of amazing and unusual pets.  I like the categories – smartest, most talkative, most springy and most rolling. This is just fun information, but you could use it for a pay attention to details lesson.  Pick a few of the pets and read their descriptions to the class.  Then have [...]

Since today is my daughter Erin’s Golden Birthday, I decided to google Golden Birthday and see what came up.  There were some interesting ideas in this list of family birthday traditions, from giving birthday insults to having a birthday elf. For ideas and information about golden birthdays, read this ad for a $12.97 Golden Birthday Book. [...]

I was reading the I Love Libraries blog and came across this inspiring article about a girl who set a goal of reading all of the Newbery Medal winners before middle school and reached that goal.  Not only did she read all the books, but she created a blog where she reviews many of them. [...]

I loved summer camp, and I really loved camp songs.  You can find the lyrics to 541 camp songs and chants on the Scoutorama website.  Look at the list and see how many you remember.  You might find a song to use in a lesson.  You could use the Quartermaster’s Store song for a lesson [...]

I have read over and over that having your writing critiqued is an essential part of the writing process.  Still, students be not be willing to share what they’ve written with a fellow classmate.  I know good writing teachers work hard to set up a supportive environment, but sometimes the realities of teen social life [...]

Ever since my stint as teen writer of Time Out for Kids for the Long Prairie Leader, journalism has had a special place in my heart.  Try these journalism lessons with your budding writers.  They are geared to students in grades 2-8.

Here’s a creative art contest for students in grades K-12.  Teachers have to register their classes for students to particpate and in addition, must submit each student’s entry form, parent consent form, student doodle, student title for doodle and student supporting statement.  The topic is “If I could do anything, I would …”  What a [...]

If one of your friends is a favorite among students, have your students practice writing praise by participating in Panera Bread’s Rising Above student essay contest.  Students must submit a 100-200 word essay on why his or her teacher deserves to be recognized.  Essays must be submitted at a store or online by March 31st. [...]