Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
---Mid February 2006 Edition--- (current subscribers: 16,578)
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News and updates to http://brains.org and Kathie Nunley's
Layered Curriculum (tm) Site for Educators: http://help4teachers.com

~~The NO-MEMBERSHIP-REQUIRED website ~~
Newsletter subscription available at: http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm
Unsubscribe & email change information link at the bottom of this newsletter

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SECTION ONE: Teaching Tips -
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Teacher Tip # 1. After we study the structure of invertebrates, we make edible
play-dough. Instead of labeling a diagram, the kids sculpt with the dough,
whatever organism I say. If they get it right the first time they get full points,
if not they try again. For example I may say, "Sculpt a crustacean." Students
must have 2 body segments and 10 legs. I ask them to give examples of a
crustacean other than the one they made for more points. The ones who finish
early get to eat and entertain themselves by molding whatever they want.
Here is the recipe: ½ cup smooth peanut butter, ½ cup white corn syrup,
3/4 cup powdered sugar, and 3/4 cup dried/powdered milk. To save me time
I put one student in charge of each ingredient and they pour/slop it directly
into a ziplock. Then other kids gently squish the bag until the mixture
doesn't stick to the sides anymore. If it is too sticky, add more corn syrup.
Each recipe makes enough dough for about 5-7 kids. WARNING: Make sure
no one has peanut allergies. Fritzi Heckel, Johnson Creek, WI

Teacher Tip #2: I save empty Elmer's Glue bottles and use them to store small
amounts of paint in my classroom. The glue bottles are more exact and less
messy than storing the paint in larger jars plus, I have more than one bottle of
each color to float around the room. Laura Rothe, North Branch, MN

Send your favorite teaching tip to me at Kathie@brains.org
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SECTION TWO: Hot Topics
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HOT TOPIC #1: The NICHD is releasing their findings from a longitudinal study
they've conducted on early child care and its effect on the cognitive and social
development of children throughout childhood. The study tracked over
1200 children from birth until 5 years of age. As other studies have shown,
high quality daycare, found with children from both SES extremes (upper
income families and impoverished families eligible for government sponsored
child care) correlates with higher cognitive and language scores. Children
from middle class and "the working poor" tend to have the lowest quality
day care. But "Mom care only" versus day care in early childhood does
not appear to make a difference in cognitive or language scores.
Parenting skills, mother's education and income levels still are the strongest
predictor of higher cognitive scores during early childhood, and far outweigh
child care vs. stay-at-home issues.
But, the quality of child care does play a role. And interestingly, the quantity
of child care does too. Children who spend a lot of time during early childhood
in child care centers tend to have more social and behavioral problems in
early elementary school. NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2006).
American Psychologist, Vol 61(2), 99-116.

HOT TOPIC #2: Cannabis (marijuana) and MDMA (Ecstasy) are two of the most
widely used recreational drugs. Italian researchers are now studying the long
term effects of using both of these drugs simultaneously. They have
found that prolonged use of marijuana and ecstasy used together are associated
with elevated impulsiveness, anxiety, obsessive compulsive behavior, and
psychotic behavior. Sala, M. & Braudam D. (2005). Pharmacology,
Biochemistry, & Behavior. Vol 81(2), 407-416.

HOT TOPIC #3: For those of you who collect research on gender differences in
the brain, here's another study for your collection. German researchers used a fMRI
to image male and female brains while they looked at fear -inducing pictures.
While the self-reports of "fear" where stronger from the women, the brain's activation or
involvement (activation of the bilateral amygdala and the left fusiform gyrus) was
greater in men. The researchers theorize that men's brains are wired to pay more
attention to aggression cues in their environment. Schienle, A. et al. (2005).
Neuroreport: For Rapid Communication of Neuroscience Research.
Vol 16(3), 277-280.

More Hot Topics at the websites!

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SECTION THREE:
Website updates and Layered Curriculum training materials
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***NEW at the Help4Teachers.com****

NEW Article: What causes struggling reading problems and what can
you do about them? Read the article at:
http://help4teachers.com/JohnnieCanRead.htm

Layered Curriculum Video Training Kits now available for teacher groups
of 10, 25 and 50 or more. http://help4teachers.com/video.htm

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** NEW at the Brains.org SHOP**

My new book "Differentiating the High School Classroom" is
available at a discounted price.

New "book bundles" offer discounts on your favorite topics such as
Differentiated Instruction, The Brain, and Struggling Readers.
http://brains.org/store
(Yes, we still stock colored overlays and yes, we take school POs)

Layered Curriculum texts, workbooks and training materials can
always be found at a discount at:
http://help4teachers.com/books.htm

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SECTION FOUR: Kathie's Email
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Hello Dr. Nunley, I am in the process of becoming a teacher and I came
across your website. I thought this idea of Layered Curriculum was very
interesting! I have a question though. It seems to me that this only allows
those who are learning disabled to achieve only a C grade. I mean what if
they do not have the ability to ever reach the higher levels of Bloom's
Taxonomy? Does this mean that all their efforts and that their ability is only
worth a C? What if they are working and doing as best as they can given
their learning disability? I think it might be considered unfair that just
because they cannot do the assignments in levels A or B that why should
they only get a C grade? Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
Kat

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Hi Kat, Thanks for your note. I try to stress to everyone, and
can't say it enough, "Teachers need to expect ALL students to get through
ALL 3 layers" - no exceptions! I've never met a student who couldn't
C- gather information
B - manipulate that information
A - critical evaluate
Remember too that the level of sophistication in their work will vary greatly and
it is likely that many students will not complete a layer with work at a standard
high enough to actually earn that particular grade - but that doesn't excuse
them from working the layer. I hope that helps clarify. --Kathie

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Kathie, - I thought I'd pass along another unit on the legislative branch
of the U.S. government. Pam Martin, Austin, TX.

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Thanks Pam for sharing another unit. It should be posted by now at the website.
I asked out webmaster to start "flagging" new units with red letters, so that should
help everyone find things easier. - Kathie

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Dear Kathie, I am impressed with your web-site which I discovered in a search
for material on Roll Of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred Taylor. The section on
Roll Of Thunder mentions a video and although I live in the UK, I would be willing
to pay postage. Do you have any information as to how I can obtain a copy?
The web-site material clearly relates to a video as well as worksheets and I
know my pupils would find it helpful. I am Head Of English at Moon Hall School
in Surrey, England, a specialist school for dyslexic children, many of whom
have appreciated this dramatic, historically-rooted story. I would be grateful if
you could point me in the right direction! Warm regards, Mary Greenslade

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Hi Mary, Thanks for your note. I'm glad you are finding the website useful.
All the units have been designed by various teachers around the globe and I
just post whatever information they send me. I wouldn't know what video this
particular teacher used unless they noted it somewhere on the unit sheet.
I can put a note in the newsletter however and see if someone has a suggestion
for you as to the title or versions of videos they use with this book. I hope we
get some leads for you. --Kathie

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SECTION FIVE: Workshops/calendar schedule/misc
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I hope everyone was able to share a happy St. Valentine's Day with someone
they love this week. I was lucky enough to share the day with my 5 favorites
valentines! Here in New Hampshire we were also lucky enough to miss the
brunt of that vicious winter snow storm earlier this week! Today the sun is
shining, the snow is melting, and I think my trees have been fooled by our
warmer-than-normal winter and are actually budding out!

I'm heading out tomorrow though for Toronto and the Links to Learning Conference
at the Eaton Centre, and then I'll be in Boise, Idaho at the end of next week for
a 2 day conference.

My calendar page is updated http://help4teachers.com/calendar.htm
I've ended up with one more slot in August if your location is near an airport, and I
have opened some dates in spring 2007. If you are interested in hosting a conference
or workshop at your location please let me know.

Thank you again for all the notes, teaching tips and lesson ideas you all so
generously share. I try to answer as much email as possible, so please feel
free to write with your ideas or questions.

As always, my best to you and yours,

Kathie
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- posted by Kathie @ 12:20 PM