Using the Olympics as a Teaching Tool

As many of you may know, The 2016 Summer Olympic Games will take place in August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This event creates a unique teachable moment for students on many levels.

First, The Olympics represents a fantastic geography lesson. Students  can learn about the culture and customs of the host country- Brazil. A major country economically in South America, learning about Brazil creates a long list of possibilities. Map projects, Internet searches, videos, music, etc.  are all classroom experiences that are available.

 There will be over 10,000 athletes participating from 206 nations in the Olympics this summer and that too lends itself to discussions and visuals about who will be there . The games will last 17 days beginning on August 5^th.

Beyond the social studies lesson, the Olympics games offer an excellent opportunity to discuss fair play and good sportsmanship- something that can carry over onto the playing fields of every school.

Teachers looking for websites to start research to get students motivated might try:

www.rio2016.com and www.Olympics.org.

Currently there are two Olympic themed motion pictures in theatres that can be recommended for students. One is “Race”- the story of Jesse Owens, US Olympic track star and his quest in the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic games. The other film, a little less serious is “Eddie the Eagle,” the whimsical true story of a British house painter who enters the Calgary Winter Games as a ski jumper.

Don’t miss this opportunity to take your students higher and further.

C.2016 J. Margolis

Writing for the Academic Press

It is a topic that many journalism students don’t get a chance to investigate. Other than completing research papers for a college class, few writers get the background and the knowhow to be a successful academic writer. By academic writing, I am including writing and editing textbooks, researching and writing articles for professional journals, and writing research papers for presentations at conferences.

The style of academic writing is by necessity, more concise and needs to show independent and documented research and allows the reader to be able to draw the appropriate conclusions.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when writing for journals or textbook chapters.

1)   The writing should be formal and logical.

2)   The narrative needs to define, support, and follow your thesis or argument.

3)   Work needs to be unbiased.

4)   Paragraphs need to be unbiased

5)   Writing needs to be well structured

6)   Work should contain proper citations and sources must be acknowledged. The Internet makes it too easy to obtain information and write it as your own.

7)   Work should be written in the passive voice.

8)   The author needs to always keep in mind who the intended audience is.

9)   The reader should have no problem identifying your position.

10)                   Refer to the AP Style Manual when needed.

It is always a good idea to have at least two other individuals review your work and to critique content and style.

c. 2016 J. Margolis

It's Time for Read Across America

This year will mark the 19^th anniversary of the Read Across America Program initiated by the National Education Association (NEA). March 2^nd is the date for Read Across America Day as well as Dr. Seuss’ birthday. The program was established in conjunction with Random House Publishing and Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Throughout the country students are encourage to tread their favorite books and often teacher dress up as “ The Cat in The Hat,” probably the most widely read book of the day.

Other students often read to those in the younger grades and many participate in book reading contests and marathons. The possibilities are limitless.

Teachers can obtain information about Read Across America Day and get suggestions for activities, press releases, etc. by going to the NEA web site at readacrossamerica.org

To help with the celebration of Read Across America Day, Educator Partners in conjunction with GreatDay Bks LLC is offering a special sale on the adorable children’s book “Carrots for Charlie.” The book is a great read aloud story with excellent illustrations and a message about health and nutrition.    

Getting Ready for Presidents’ Day

When I was a student in elementary school, we celebrated two Presidential holidays. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday was on February 12th and George Washington’s was on February 22^nd. Little attention was paid to the other Presidents. Today, students everywhere can acknowledge the efforts of all of our Presidents on Presidents’ Day. These activities take on an even greater significance as 2016 happens to be a Presidential election year (if you haven’t noticed we are already in Primary season!).

There is a wealth of information on the Internet with websites full of classroom activities for all grade levels and abilities. Hera are a few that you may wish to review.

Nea.org. The National Education website has links, pdfs, printables as well as interactive maps for students to sink their teeth into. There is an abundance of Presidents Day activities here.

Scholastic.com – The publishers of Scholastic Magazine’s and books also have many activities for classroom use. Their materials include worksheets “ What was Life Like in George Washington’s Time?” There are also reprintable articles, craft suggestions and art project. There are also of course opportunity to purchase Scholastic books and DVDs about the Presidents. One activity that could be enlightening is “ If you were President, How would you run the Country?” How would you balance a budget? Who would you select for your cabinet or advisors?

Educationworld.com- this site has useful times lines and a discussion of the President’s role under the US Constitution.

Presidential Libraries.

Each of the past 13 Presidents has Presidential Libraries throughout the country. Their web sites provide an in depth look at that President’s life and accomplishments. (Example -www. Jfklibrary.org).

Library of Congress- (loc.gov) This web site will enable students to search the government archives for news articles speeches and photos.

There is certainly no shortage of materials to make this Presidents Day a meaningful one.

C.2016 J. Margolis

High School Diplomas Devalued

If you were reading a similar headline in the financial section of the newspaper regarding the US dollar, there would be a great deal of panic and anxiety. Why isn’t there similar concern about the declining value of a high school diploma and what America’s high school graduates are capable of? As most of us were enjoying the recent holiday season, a disturbing article appeared in the Sunday, December 27^th New York Times. On the surface the news sounded upbeat- a rise in high school graduation rates. But dig a little bit deeper and concerns arise about whether students are ready for college or even the work force for that matter. According to a report issued by the United States Department of Education indicated that the national graduation rate for 2013-14 leapt to 82%, which was the highest rate on record. But the results of a readiness test of twelfth graders exposed the fact that fewer than 40% of the test takers were prepared for college level work. The article went on to point out that colleges still have to offer remediation classes for incoming freshmen and that dropout rates,particularly in community colleges, are still high.

Business leaders in the state of South Carolina home to assembly plants for companies like Boeing, Volvo and, BMW have expressed concern about workforce preparedness for high school graduates.

A further investigation of this phenomenon revealed that a number of states have watered down their graduation requirements.  According to the NYT article, 32 states no longer require that their students complete four years of English and mathematics through Algebra II. Similar shortcuts are popping up in schools around the country.

It is imperative that our nation’s educators as well as business leader get together to develop a meaningful but rigorous curriculum to produce the high school graduates we need to sustain our country. It should be noted that public education in America is not stipulated in the US Constitution. It is up to US to make sure our students succeed and that a high school diploma has value.

C.2016 J. Margolis