Fly High With Airplanes and Choice Boards!

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Do you use Choice Boards? If you find them interesting but still need some more information, let’s take a look at one example of how to get started in a way that incorporates science and STEAM activities based upon significant dates in history and student interests. December is a significant month for aviation history. On … read more »


Cross-Curricular Lesson Ideas for the Winter Solstice

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The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time — a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken. Frederick Lenz It isn’t always possible to create well-developed cross-curricular lessons based upon a single theme. Still, many … read more »


Storytelling and The National Day of Listening

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November 27 is the National Day of Listening. Celebrated each year on the day after Thanksgiving, it’s a time to gather families and friends for the specific purpose of recording and sharing histories and stories for preservation. Launched in 2008 by StoryCorps (reviewed here), this observance falls at a time when many families are together, … read more »


A Guide to Understanding and Implementing Computational Thinking

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Computational thinking (CT) is an essential set of skills required for success in the 21st Century. Wikipedia defines computational thinking as “a set of problem-solving methods that involve expressing problems and their solutions in ways that a computer could also execute.” The four problem-solving methods are problem decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms.  But what does … read more »


Primary Sources for Native American Heritage Month

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Each November, Americans celebrate Native American Heritage Month. It is a time to celebrate the culture and heritage along with the contributions of Native people. In addition, it is an opportunity to raise awareness of the real stories of Native Americans, not caricatures and stereotypes. A quick search of the TeachersFirst blog page finds many … read more »