Cover Story
English Lessons

When students don't speak English, what's the best route to classroom success--and high test scores?

At Chandler Magnet School in Worcester, Massachusetts, a sign outside the main office reads, in bold red letters, "¿Qué necesitas para pasar el MCAS? Asistencia, Aspiración, Ayuda, Asignaciones, Actitud." (What do you need to pass the MCAS? Attendance, aspiration, help, homework, attitude.)

Many students here don't speak English yet, so they'll be taking the third and fourth grade versions of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), the state test, in Spanish. And, of course, the school and its educators will be judged on their performance.

Motivational signs like these may be popping up nationwide in the next few years as the revised federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act takes effect with its new testing mandates. English-language learners (ELL) will be expected to reach the same levels of achievement as fluent English speakers, and schools where they don't will face escalating penalties (see below).

The number of ELL students is growing fast nationwide--up 27 percent in just two years.

Some educators feel the best way to help ELL students achieve is to "immerse" them in English instruction, with little or no use of their native language, even if that means they can't follow what's going on in class for a while.

Others favor teaching in the native language while also teaching English part of the day--"bilingual" education.

Worcester schools have advocates of both points of view and many more in between, but in Massachusetts, the decision on how to educate these children may not be made by educators at all. It may be determined at the ballot box next fall if a referendum severely restricting bilingual education passes.

Bankrolled by Ronald Unz, the Calif-ornia software tycoon who underwrote anti-bilingual campaigns in several other states, the referendum is opposed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association. If passed, the restrictions would take effect in the fall of 2003.

Passage of the proposal would throw a monkey wrench into Worcester's varied and sophisticated language instruction system where the guiding principle is, one size doesn't fit all.

Here, 10 percent of school children are not fluent in English, and the ranks keep growing. Worcester educators have responded with bilingual classes, two-way bilingual classes, "structured" English immersion, after-school tutoring, and many more variations, depending on students' ages, their skill level, the number of other students speaking their language, the availability of bilingual teachers and teaching assistants, and the preferences of their parents.

Angelique Rivera, who teaches kindergarten at Chandler Magnet School, strongly supports bilingual education because of her own experience growing up in a Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican family in Florida. "I had total immersion in school, and I was shuffled to the back of the room," she says. "I basically learned English by myself. But I didn't learn to read until sixth grade."

Rivera teaches Spanish-speaking children. She often speaks English with them, but when she's talking about academic content, she uses their native language.

"I teach how to make graphs, how to read, and critical thinking skills," she explains. "I'm preparing them for MCAS in kindergarten." She notes they couldn't master such complex material in English.

Most of these children, Rivera believes, will be ready for all-English instruction at the end of the second grade. If the Unz proposal passes, she says, "I'm going to feel sorry for teachers who are given 15 kids, don't understand their culture, and can't speak their language--they won't be able to teach them. And I'm going to feel sorry for the kids."

But maybe she won't have to. Chandler Magnet School also has teachers who can't speak their students' languages in a pilot "structured English" program. Joanna Voyiatzis has 16 children, grades one through three, who speak six different languages. They started the year knowing no English.

"These kids are doing fine," she says. "I'm very impressed by their success." She teaches grade level math, coping with the language problem by drawing lots of pictures. And the children use simpler reading materials than native English speakers do.

Home support is the key to learning English fast and well, and Voyiatzis says most of her parents are educated and eager to help. "They are always coming in to talk with me, through aides who speak their language: ÔHow's my child doing? Is there anything you need?'" she says.

But many immigrant parents can't be so helpful. "I have students whose parents leave for work at 6:30 a.m. and get home at 6 at night, just to make enough money for basic needs," says Juan Matos, who teaches a sixth grade bilingual class at Chandler.

At City View School, three miles east of Chandler, Joan Didzbalis teaches English to small groups of children, 40 minutes to an hour at a time, kindergarten through sixth grade. She cautions that children who can converse in English may not be ready to learn their academics that way. If they have to labor to understand each word, they may not grasp the meaning of the whole passage.

Didzbalis speaks a little Spanish, and she puts herself in the student role to help the children understand the challenge they must overcome on the MCAS.

"I read to them from a Spanish story, and they say, ÔYou did good, Miss D!' But I tell them I have no idea what I just read." Then they practice strategies for deciphering the difficult questions they can expect on the test.

Didzbalis believes MCAS scores for many children will be lower if they can't learn their academics in their native language. "Ten percent of language learners will make it no matter what," she says. "Others definitely learn better in bilingual. Some need it for one or two years. Others need five to seven years.

"Each child is looked at differently in Worcester."

--Alain Jehlen

For more: Visit the NEA Web site at www.nea.org/issues/bilingual/, the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs at www.ncbe.gwu.edu, and the National Association for Bilingual Education at www.nabe.org.

Small's World

A Nevada teacher works hard to adjust to rising numbers of non-English speaking students.

In many ways Theo Small is living his dream as a fourth and fifth grade teacher at Mountain View Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He loves his students. He has "aha!" moments almost every day. His colleagues are great. And because he's at an outdoor school--the classroom doors open to the breezy blue yonder--he never goes wanting for big splashes of sunshine and air.

But here's the rub: In the eight years since he began teaching at Mountain View, Small has seen his classes shift from majority white to 98 percent limited- and non-English speaking Hispanic. Not that this is bad; it's just that Small is a Utah born-and-bred Caucasian who doesn't speak Spanish. Needless to say, the way he taught just five years ago has been turned on its head. "It's completely changed my classroom," says Small. "Everything I do is different."

In the Clark County School District, the sixth-fastest growing urban district in the country, Small is nowhere near alone. A booming service economy that has lured hundreds of thousands of job-seeking Hispanics to the area--there's been a 250 percent surge since 1999 alone--is also testing the backbone of the school system.

School officials project that by the 2004-05 academic year, the number of non-English speaking students will have more than doubled, from 40,000 to nearly 90,000 out of 245,000. But in a district that long has struggled with funding and teacher shortages, the challenges are already formidable. And for teachers like Small, things are sure to get tougher under the new English proficiency demands of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Testing each year, pressures to bring non-English speaking students along faster--it all makes Small wonder about the fairness of it.

"If I'm getting a student who's been in a U.S. school for two years," says Small, "I know that he may have basic language ability and can understand when I give directions, especially if I'm using lots of visuals.

"But for the most part, he's not going to be able to take a fifth grade test and succeed. It's understanding abstract concepts that's so hard. You're talking about developmental language." And that, he says, just doesn't come overnight.

It takes time and patience to cultivate developmental language, says Small. It also takes resources and lots of support--and in his district, both are in short supply. At Mountain View, where more than a third of the students are English-language learners (ELL), only a handful of the teachers are officially certified to teach them. That's because the school district doesn't pay for the training, even though an ELL-trained teacher is required to be in every class where ELL students number more than half.

Officials insist they'll be more funds next year for teacher development and a host of new testers, but meanwhile the result has been this: Eager professionals like Small who forked over their own money to pay for training have been forced to absorb as many ELL students as possible to keep their schools compliant with the law.

At Mountain View this has effectively meant the segregation of most ELL students from English-speaking students, which has curtailed the kind of interaction Small is convinced would help build their English skills faster. "When my class walks down the hallway, we're like Ôthe little brown class'," he says. "It really frustrates me."

But that's just the start. Small's classes are big--he has 34 students now, two years ago he had 42. Many come and go; 30 percent of the school, as throughout the district, is transient. A quarter of Small's own students had left by March, and new ones were coming.

There's no aide and not enough of certain books. In addition, few parents speak English, making it difficult to support language development at home. Small usually relies on the goodwill of a couple of bilingual staff members to help him forge relationships with parents.

There's one last issue, too, says one of Small's colleagues, first grade ELL teacher Mary Francis Ringstad. Though she speaks fluent Spanish and is fortunate to be teamed with an English-speaking class during certain periods of the year (Mountain View is year-round), Ringstad says she deals with large numbers of students who come to school with no skills at all--even in their native language.

"It's incredible," she says. "It makes it doubly hard because you can't translate when they don't even know what it is in Spanish."

So she worries about whether the new law will take these kinds of intangibles into consideration. "I think we may be looking to accomplish something too quickly," she says. "It's impossible to think that many of my students are going to be at grade level by third grade."

He says he just hopes help--not harm--is on the way.

--Marilyn Milloy

Under the recently revised Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), children who have attended school in the United States for at least three consecutive years will be tested in English for reading and language arts. They must meet the same standards for proficiency as other students.

If any subgroup of students--such as English-language learners--in any school do not make rapid progress toward meeting these standards, the school will be subjected to escalating sanctions that may include replacing some staff after four years and complete reorganization after six.

The ESEA, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act, neither encourages nor discourages teaching children in their native language while they learn English.

What's the Score on English-Only?

Two years after California's 1998 referendum to eliminate bilingual education, a New York Times article reported that Spanish-speaking students in all-English classes were making "striking" progress, demonstrating that these classes were better than bilingual classes.

Angry bilingual education supporters denounced the article, saying it distorted state test results. Indeed, other newspaper reports drew very different conclusions from the same data.

So what really happened?

Studies from Stanford University and from Arizona State University show that scores on the California test jumped for all groups of students. Children placed in all-English classes did score higher, but so did children who stayed in bilingual classes.

The researchers suggested the higher scores could be due to the state's class size reduction program, or to teachers under pressure to "teach to the test," or both.

Under the law, students should receive a year of "structured English immersion" before being mainstreamed. During that year, teachers use simpler reading words, pictures, and other techniques to help children with a limited grasp of the language. A second year is allowed, but supporters of the law predicted that most children would become proficient in one year. The most recent state figures, however, show only 9 percent of English-language learners achieving proficiency per year.

Even before Proposition 227, just 29 percent of California's English-language learners were actually receiving bilingual education, in part because there weren't enough bilingual teachers.

After the new law took effect, the percentage of English learners in bilingual dropped to 12. It did not fall to zero because the law allows parents to get waivers and keep their children in bilingual classes.

The California referendum campaign was paid for by Silicon Valley multimillionaire Ronald Unz. The California Teachers Association opposed Proposition 227, but the organization is now trying to make it work. CTA created a program that has trained 7,000 teachers in structured English instruction.

For more:
Read the series on Proposition 227 in California Educator, the magazine of the California Teachers Association, at www.cta.org/cal_educator/v6i2/feature_fallout.html. Read the Stanford study at http://www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/SAT9/SAT9_2000/
analysis2000.htm and the Arizona State study at http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n7/.

A Nation of Immigrants

Students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)

Learning: Inside Scoop
Teacher Quality

From student teachers to veterans, NEA members can do and are doing a lot to improve classroom practice.

The revised federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act sets new teacher quality benchmarks, but it takes more than government edicts to achieve excellence. Every teacher, no matter how good, wants to do a better job, so NEA and its members have led many initiatives to improve the quality of teaching, long before lawmakers took this on as a cause. Here's an overview of how teachers at all levels of experience are improving the profession.

How can student teachers get the preparation they'll need for that first classroom?
Student teachers need strong academic preparation, intensive study in the science of good teaching, and practical experience before they take full responsibility for a classroomful of children.

To upgrade the quality of teacher preparation, NEA helped create the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in 1954 and continues to play an active role in its work.

Before NCATE grants accreditation to a college or university, a board of examiners pays a visit and evaluates the programs using NCATE's research-based standards. About two-thirds of all graduates of teacher preparation programs now come from NCATE-accredited schools (see chart).

NEA also pioneered the concept of partnerships between universities and "professional development schools"-- public schools that work like teaching hospitals. Veteran teachers who work at the school give students the benefit of their practical knowledge. Student teachers, school faculty, and university faculty "go on rounds" together, observing classes and discussing what they see.

NEA has helped create and fund 17 such partnerships since 1995, producing thousands of new teachers well-equipped for the real world.

The NEA Student Program also offers preservice teachers ways to gain valuable experience. The program offers workshops by veteran professionals on such issues as how to deal with unruly students. "We focus on problems that can trip up first-year teachers," says Student Program staffer Malcolm Staples.

How can new teachers become master teachers?
The new teacher's strongest ally is a good mentor, says Gayla Hudson, director of NEA's Teacher Quality division.

"The mentor should be not just an accomplished teacher, but also trained in mentoring," Hudson notes. Mentors and new teachers must also have time set aside for them to work together.

"The number one reason new teachers leave teaching is that they're dissatisfied with the school environment-- they feel it's a sink or swim situation," says Hudson. "A mentor can make the difference."

NEA local and state affiliates have actively promoted strong mentor programs through legislation, bargaining, and informal pressure.

How can experienced teachers improve their skills?
The first step is to set your own standards for what quality teaching is, says Hudson. She suggests comparing your work with standards developed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (on the Web at www.nbpts.org).

NEA was one of the National Board's founding organizations in 1986. To date, 16,000 teachers nationwide have gained certification in one of 24 fields.

Other effective approaches for improving teaching practice involve groups of teachers at a school working together to examine what they do and experiment with changes.

These site-based activities usually include examining a specific question about instruction and student learning. Teachers say the professional opportunity to work with peers is a big benefit.

School districts need to provide time for these teacher-driven professional development activities, Hudson adds.

What does the revised Elemen-tary and Secondary Education Act say about teacher quality?
The new law defines "highly qualified" teachers as those who are fully certified or licensed and competent in the subjects they teach.

New teachers must pass a state test to demonstrate competence in a subject area or, for secondary school teachers, have the equivalent of an academic major in their subject. Teachers already on the job can prove their competence the same way, or the state can create a non-test evaluation of academic competence for them. National Board Certifi-cation is another way to prove competence.

Title I teachers hired as of 2002-03 must meet the requirements. Others have until the end of the 2005-06 year.

So will all teachers really be highly qualified by 2005?
Not likely, says Hudson. It takes more than a law to put a quality teacher in front of a class.

When administrators hire unqualified teachers or assign people to teach out of field, it's not usually because the administrators don't care. In most cases, they simply couldn't hire enough qualified teachers at the salaries and teaching conditions they are offering.

So the success of the new law will depend on the government's willingness to back up edicts with resources.

"Every time an Association wins a pay raise, a class size limit, or a mentoring program, it is helping to improve the quality of teaching by creating conditions that will attract and hold on to good teachers," Hudson says.

"A quality teacher is the most effective agent we have for lifting our children to higher levels of achievement, and that is especially true for children from low-income homes," Hudson adds. "Quality is worth the investment."

--Alain Jehlen

For more:

• On the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, visit www.nbpts.org.

• On the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, visit www.ncate.org.

• On the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, call NEA's ESEA hotline, 866/373-ESEA (3732).

• On the NEA Student Program, visit www.nea.org/students/.

• On mentoring and teacher quality projects in progress now, see pages 16 and 23 of this NEA Today.

News: Rights Watch
Supreme Court Upholds Peer Grading

High Court rejects parent's claim that the practice violates students' rights.

In a striking victory for teacher autonomy, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the common practice of having students grade each other's papers does not violate federal law.

The February 19, 2002, ruling reverses a controversial decision by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals that peer grading violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). That's a 26-year-old federal law that prohibits schools from disclosing to third parties a student's "educational records" without parental consent.

The case arose when Kristja J. Falvo, the mother of three students enrolled in the Owasso (Oklahoma) Independent School District, learned that several of her children's teachers occasionally used students to grade one another's work and to call out their grades.

When her complaints about the practice fell on deaf ears, Falvo sued the district and various administrators, charging that the grading practice embarrassed her children and violated FERPA.

The Tenth Circuit in Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo upheld her claims, but the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision.

In an opinion by Justice Kennedy, the Court recognized that peer grading can be a valuable educational tool. "It is a way to teach material again in a new context," and it enables the teacher to discover "whether the students have understood the material and are ready to move on," the Court said.

The Court also stressed that a ruling prohibiting teachers from using peer grading "would impose substantial burdens on teachers across the country.

"It would force all instructors to take time, which otherwise could be spent teaching and in preparation, to correct an assortment of daily student assignments," the Court concluded.

Finally, the Court emphasized that to sustain the lower court's opinion would empower the federal government to "exercise minute control over specific teaching methods...in classrooms throughout the country" and would "effect a drastic alteration of the existing allocation of responsibilities between states and the national government in the operation of the nation's schools."

The 2001 NEA Representative Assembly adopted a New Business Item expressing the association's "strong opposition" to the Tenth Circuit's decision in the Falvo case. In response, NEA filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to throw out the lower court ruling.

While noting that "many teachers" have found peer grading to be "educationally beneficial," the NEA brief emphasized that the practice has not been "universally embraced by all teachers."

The brief went on to argue that "the question of whether to engage in this practice...is uniquely suited to local resolution by teachers and school districts," rather than by Congress or the courts. Happily, the Supreme Court agreed.

As always, there's a caveat. Despite the Supreme Court ruling, a school district still may decide on its own to ban the practice. Depending on state law, however, the district may be required to bargain over the issue before implementing such a policy.

The Supreme Court's decision in the Falvo case can be found on the Web at: www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/ 01slipopinion.html.

--Michael D. Simpson
NEA Office of General Counsel

Taking a Stand for Integrity

NEA member resigns over school board vote to ignore plagiarism.

Christine Pelton, the former second-year teacher from Piper, Kansas, quit her job after the local school board overturned her decision to punish students for cheating on a major class assignment.

In explaining her principled stance, Pelton said that one of the roles of teachers is to teach students "to be honest people, to have integrity, to listen, to be good citizens....I'm not expecting more than what would be expected of them either at home or down the road."

The school board's action has created a firestorm of controversy in this small community and garnered a remarkable amount of media attention.

The assignment Pelton gave to her 118 science students was to collect and study 20 different leaves, prepare a written report about each, and present the findings in an oral report to the class. The assignment would count for 50 percent of the semester grade.

To save time, many students used the Internet, and Pelton noticed that some of the written reports contained identical passages. So she used a computer program she found at http://turnitin.com and discovered that 28 students had copied substantial portions of their reports directly from Web sites.

The punishment for first offense cheating, according to school board policy, is no credit for the assignment. In addition, Pelton had required parents and students to sign copies of her classroom rules, which included the notice that "cheating and plagiarism will result in failure of the assignment;...all work turned in by the student [must be] completely their own." So the 28 students who plagiarized their reports received a zero.

And then the parents complained. To their credit, both Pelton's principal and her superintendent supported her decision. But meeting behind closed doors last December, the school board voted to overturn Pelton's judgment and ordered her to give all of the offending students partial credit for the assignment and to reduce the assignment's value from 50 to 30 percent of the semester grade.

The next day, according to media reports, some of Pelton's students taunted and ridiculed her. "I went to my class and tried to teach the kids, but they hollered and said, 'We don't have to listen to you anymore'," Pelton said. "They knew if they didn't like anything in my classroom from here on out, they [could] just go to the school board and complain."

Pelton resigned from her job several days later. Despite the intense media scrutiny that followed, school board members refused to offer any explanation or to reconsider their action.

The controversy continues. One parent started a recall petition to oust the sitting board members. In late February, the Wyandotte County District Attorney filed charges accusing the seven school board members of violating the Kansas Open Meetings Act by ordering the grade changes in a secret, executive session.

Pelton's principal has announced his resignation and other teachers have threatened to leave as well. All 12 deans at Kansas State University signed a letter to the Piper School Board complaining that the board has "unwittingly encouraged and rewarded dishonesty."

And what of Christine Pelton? After a one-and-a-half-year teaching career, she has left the profession and plans to open a day care center in her home.

--Michael D. Simpson
NEA Office of General Counsel

Resources
The Power of Visuals

Becoming 'visually literate' will lead to better instruction and more prepared students.

EXCERPT
"The primary literacy of the 21st century will be visual: pictures, graphics, images of every kind...it's no longer enough to be able to read and write. Our students must learn to process both words and pictures. They must be able to move gracefully and fluently between text and images, between literal and figurative worlds."

Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn
By Lynell Burmark
115 pp. $22.95 paperback (non-ASCD members)
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
To order visit www.ascd.org or call 800/933-2723.

Today's children have always known a world of competing sound bites and digital images. Their attention spans are shorter than ever. Short of recruiting teachers from the ranks of MTV stars, how can educators compete for their students' attention?

According to Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn, educators don't need to compete; they just need to adapt. Traditional instruction practices--the old way of teaching--simply won't work, says Lynell Burmark, author of the book and associate in the Thornburg Center for Professional Development.

"It's time for teachers to take advantage of the way kids entertain themselves today, to employ those same media and the thinking habits they foster for the betterment of student learning," she writes.

How? Through visual literacy--the 21st century's new "basic skill." According to the book, incorporating visuals--color, art, photos, fonts--into lessons can enhance and accelerate classroom instruction. Teachers will reach their students faster, more efficiently, and more effectively when they punctuate what they say with images.

The supporting facts presented throughout the book are convincing: Researchers have found that humans process visual information 60,000 times faster than textual information. They've also concluded that visual aids can improve learning by up to 400 percent.

But simply throwing a clipart image onto your handout or using a different font during a presentation won't achieve visual literacy, Burmark writes. Like the process of learning to read, visual literacy is a learned skill, not an intuitive one. It can be achieved only by studying the techniques used to create images, learning the vocabulary of shapes and colors, and identifying characteristics that give an image its meaning.

Fast-moving and chock full of insights and facts, the book is an excellent resource to help teachers and students become more effective communicators and understand how to use the power of visuals to their advantage.

A particularly interesting chapter demonstrates how educators can use color to create specific moods for learning. Because our minds are biologically programmed to respond to certain colors, writes Burmark, colorful and well-thought-out instruction materials can help teachers accelerate learning and increase retention.

Of all the findings that Burmark presents, educators would probably be most interested in the conclusions of a German psychologist who found light blue, yellow, yellow-green, and orange to be the best colors for facilitating learning inside classrooms.

Burmark also takes the reader into schools across the United States and Canada and introduces teachers who describe their strategic, practical use of visual expression and technology.

Visual Literacy offers a wealth of replicable ideas and activities, as well as resources for free lesson plans, color images, books, and Web sites to help the reader become more "visually literate."

In addition to gaining practical knowledge, readers will also come away with a valuable insight: Visual literacy is imperative in today's schools because it is ever-present in the business world.

The author writes: "A lack of visual literacy is as much a handicap as the inability to read or write." After finishing this book, readers are bound to come away agreeing wholeheartedly.

--Dina S. Gómez

New from the NEA Professional Library

Effort and Excellence in Urban Classrooms: Expecting--and Getting--Success with All Students
Copublished by NEA and Columbia Teachers College Press
Dick Corbett, Bruce Wilson, and Belinda Williams
178 pp. $21.95 members
$23.95 nonmembers
#2021-9-00-FN

This timely volume explores in great detail how educators closed the performance gap for low-income students by linking expectations and results. Drawing heavily on the words and experiences of students, teachers, and parents, this book examines the successful journey of students who traditionally had not succeeded academically. Described as a "must read for those who are serious about closing the achievement gap," Effort and Excellence reveals how these educators enabled their students to be competitive academically with anyone.

To order, call 800/229-4200, or check the Web at www.nea.org/books.

Books by NEA Members

Glenna's Seeds
By Nancy Edwards,
illustrated by Sarah Hoctor

Glenna's Seeds is a whimsical picture book that illustrates how one small random act of kindness grows and multiplies. A packet of marigold seeds creates a chain of kindness among different people who live on the same block. By the story's end, a once empty street is transformed into a place full of colorful flowers, thoughtful neighbors, delicious food, and happiness. The inside back cover of each book contains a packet of flower seeds. $9.95. Published by the Child Welfare League of America. Order through www.amazon.com.

Teaching Life Skills Through Chess: A Guide For Educators and Counselors
By Fernando Moreno

NEA member and guidance counselor Fernando Moreno presents chess as an analogy to life and offers teachers a model that helps students learn to make good choices, build self-confidence, develop critical thinking skills, and improve academic skills. The author supplies methods to teach chess for counseling purposes, including sample lesson plans. $12.95 from American Literary Press. Call 410/882-7700 or 800/873-2003.

Energizers: Calisthenics for the Mind
By Carl Olson

This book jump starts the learning process through 71 exercises and activities that energize the mind and senses. Activities are grouped under three classifications. Energizers activate the emotional nature of the group. Games consist of organized play that includes competition. Initiatives create an in-depth analysis of thoughts, feelings, impressions, and reactions and must be followed with processing questions. $10.95. Order online at www.educationalmedia.com or write to Educational Media Corporation, Box 21311, Minneapolis, MN 55421-0311.

Hyper Harry
By Patricia Aust

This book tells the story of a young, hyperactive child with outrageous behavior and how his actions affect everyone around him. Older brother Ted is desperate to change his little brother Harry's hyperactive behavior as it spirals out of control at home, school, and in the neighborhood. $5.99 from New Concepts Publishing. To order visit www.newconceptspublishing.com/youngadult.htm.

Bury My Bones In America
By Lani Ah Tye Farkas

This book tells the saga of a Chinese family in California from 1852 to 1996. The author follows her ancestors from China as their trail leads to tragedy and heartbreak, as well as brilliant success in America. Witness this group gradually integrate into present day American society as years of Chinese traditions unfold and blend with the New World. Illustrated with photographs, maps, and drawings. $24.95 from Carl Mautz Publishing. Order online at www.carlmautz.com.

TV Tips

In Memoriam: September 11, 2001, New York City
HBO, May 26, 10 p.m., ET, check local listings.
This documentary follows Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and his staff through the events of September 11, 2001. Drawing on unprecedented access to city hall and the mayor's staff, the program chronicles responses from the first realization of what happened--through smoke and fire, through rescue and recovery, through despair and tears--to a newfound strength that would emerge in the spirit of a new America. In Memoriam: September 11, 2001 combines archival documents, eyewitness accounts, news footage, and never-before-seen footage from independent and amateur filmmakers.

U.N. Special Session
CNN, CNN Student News, week of May 6, 4:30 a.m., ET, check local listings.
This CNN Student News presentation teams up with the United Nations for a weeklong look at the state of children and young people around the world. The discussion will focus on health, welfare, education, and youth involvement of children. A companion Web site can be found at www.CNNstudentnews.com.

Search for the First Human
PBS, May 8, 9 p.m., ET, check local listings.
In October 2000, 13 bones were found in Kenya in a volcanic layer dating back to around six million years. Given the name "Orrorin," which means "original man" in the local Tugen dialect, the bones are the oldest hominid remains ever discovered. In this one-hour special, scientists study these bones, hoping to rewrite the story of human evolution.

Founding Brothers
The History Channel, May 27-28, 9 p.m., ET, check local listings.
Based on the current best-selling book Founding Brothers, and acting as a sequel to Founding Fathers, this special tells how Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Hamilton, and Aaron Burr grappled with the task of actually making a theoretical democratic government work. During the 1790s, these great statesmen came together, defined the new republic, and directed its course for the coming centuries. A misstep at any one of hundreds of crucial junctures could easily have broken the country apart before it began.

Ape Man: The Story of Human Evolution
A&E, A&E Classroom, May 28-31, 7 a.m., ET, check local listings.
Beginning with the mysterious phenomenon that allowed humans to branch off from apes, continuing through the invention of tools and fire, and ending with humanity's creativity and the power of language, this four-part series hosted by Walter Cronkite explores human evolution. The final segment explores the ongoing debates between evolutionists, creationists, and the scientific community about the origin of the species. Leading evolutionists also risk a glimpse into the future of human beings.

Angelina Ballerina
PBS, May, ET, check local listings.
Based on the books by Katherine Holabird, this new animated series follows the adventures of Angelina Ballerina, a dance-struck little mouse. While Angelina dreams of ballet stardom, she always manages to propel herself into humorous escapades. Each escapade teaches valuable life lessons about honesty, determination, and a range of other positive values. A companion Web site that contains activities for children can be found at www.angelinaballerina.com.

A History of Britain
The History Channel, May, ET, check local listings.
This six-part program from History Channel Classroom chronicles the early history of England. The special examines the arrival of the Anglo Saxons, the Norman Dynasty, and finally three of the most famous and misunderstood kings in English history: Henry II, Richard I, and John.

Beyond Barbed Wire
PBS, May, ET, check local listings.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 120,000 Japanese Americans were taken from their homes and sent to internment camps ringed with armed guards and barbed wire. Despite this, thousands of young Japanese American men volunteered for service in the U.S. armed services. This special looks at the all-Japanese 100th Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, which became the most decorated unit in American military history.

Shaping Character with Animation
Cartoon Network, Spring 2002 (launches nationally in Fall 2002).
With character development playing an ever-greater role in American schools, Cartoon Network has initiated a national character education program for middle school students. Designed to aid educators in creating caring, principled, and responsible adults, Animate Your World: Shaping Character uses animation technology to bring character education into the curriculum. The educational program focuses on three character behaviors: respect for self, respect for others, and responsibility to community. The program, which is available on CD-ROM, also features a companion Web site at www.animateyourworld.com.

All about Oceans: For Kids
KIDSNET, which provides these TV listings, and SeaWeb have launched an interactive online study guide at www.kidsnet.org/seaweb for grades 4-8. The guide features an introduction by Peter Benchley as well as The Ocean Report, a series of 90-second radio programs relating to a variety of issues surrounding the ocean, the life within it, and its relationship to humans. The online guide also includes a searchable database of The Ocean Report, background information on the ocean and the creatures living in it, and environmental threats to the ocean. Discussion questions and activity ideas, based on the science curriculum standards of the National Science Teachers Association, are included in addition to a list of print, Internet, and multimedia resources for extended research.

__________________
KIDSNET, a national resource for children's media in Washington, D.C., provides these listings. For additional listings, check the web at www.kidsnet.org.

Web Winners

Building the Human Body From Clay
A new approach to teaching anatomy enlists the sense of touch to instill a deep and lasting understanding of how the human body is organized and how it functions. Having students build 3-D shapes of muscles and organs from clay, and place them in the correct location on a skeletal model, makes teaching anatomy fun while increasing student comprehension and retention. Step-by-step instructions are posted every week. Go to www.anatomyinclay.com.

Government Sites Made Easy
If you are about to search for something government related and are dreading the dead ends that come with many government sites, you may want to visit www.firstgov.gov. This extensive site has links to almost anything you could need, from electronically filing your taxes to changing your address. You can even follow a link to file patents and trademarks. A great place to start if you're not sure where to begin, www.firstgov.gov is easy to navigate and could save you a lot of time.

You Won't Lose the Pieces to this Puzzle
Okay, so you've got some extra time and want to try a Web site that's fun and challenges you a little bit. Check out www.jigsawland.com to try out some cool animal, nature, and sports puzzles. The pieces are right on the screen, and with three levels, you can try puzzles of varying difficulty.

In Search of the Giant Squid
Scientists have been searching for the elusive giant squid for hundreds of years, most often with no luck. But now's your chance to travel 2000 feet below the ocean's surface in search of this nearly 60-foot creature. On discovery.com, you can learn about the giant squid and discover where it is found and its eating habits. Also, you can see images of the creature and view how the giant squid has been portrayed over time. Go to http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/
giantsquid/giantsquid.html.

Bunches of Biographies
With over 350 biographies chock full of pictures, quotations, and chronologies, www.top-biography.com is a great resource for students who are researching both historical and contemporary figures. Prominent entertainers, significant politicians, and past and present icons can be found on this site.

Dimdima
A Web site out of India, www.dimdima.com caters to children by having a connect-the-dots section, brain teasers, and quizzes on recent events. The site also includes a discussion forum for kids and a science lab section. With its multitude of activities, Dimdima.com can keep your students learning for hours.

Animal Land
A playful site full of bright colors and graphics, www.animaland.org offers articles on pets, cartoons, and games. You can also learn about a specific animal or join a poster contest. In the question-and-answer section, students can discover if sharks sleep or why rattlesnakes actually rattle.

I Care Mail
After the September 11 attacks, more than 100 million Americans began using a new form of E-mail communication called "I care mail." A survey by the UCLA Center for Communication Policy recently found that people took time to communicate through E-mail to find out about victims and offer messages of support and concern--communication that normally would not have occurred using written letters or telephone calls. The survey also says that more people relied on television rather than the Internet to receive information on the attacks. View the survey on ccp.ucla.edu.

All About Abe
Are your students learning about Lincoln? A Library of Congress Web site now features its collection of Abraham Lincoln's papers, including correspondence and official documents such as the Gettyburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. The searchable collection features images of the documents along with transcriptions of the text. Visit the site at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html.

For Word Lovers
Always losing at Scrabble®? Vocabulary a little rusty? If you want to build a stronger vocabulary and have a sudden urge to learn more words, go to www.logophilia.com. Here, you can get help with your Scrabble game, learn a new word every day, and even search for specific quotes. Some sections of the site require registration, but even a brief visit will help you wow people with your new, savvy vocabulary.

Enter Starfleet Academy
Join Star Trek's Starfleet Academy and see what it's like to compete with fellow cadets to make scientific discoveries. You can choose to be a Star Trek character, use environmental programs in the Holodeck, and investigate life forms using a Tricorder. Collect discovery cards to increase your rank, and once you've completed all the experiments, you can graduate as an ensign. Go to http://adventure.tryscience.org/discoverintro.html to begin your work at the academy.

Still Going Strong
Weekly Reader is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The Weekly Reader Web site at www.weeklyreader.com complements each Weekly Reader magazine with news updates, polls, contests, games, and more. Last year, Weekly Reader moved its pen pal program to the Internet when it launched www.weeklyreader.com/writingpals. Visit the site to join the more than 2,000 teachers and 50,000 students around the world connected through this program.

Solar System Simulator
Be your own tour guide of the solar system with the solar system simulator, a site that allows you to pinpoint certain planets and view them from different angles. See planets from several spacecrafts and get a color image of the planet you chose. You can also see maps of the planets and explore their surfaces. Go to http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Kids in the House
The U.S. House of Representatives and the Office of the Clerk introduce a new Web site geared toward showing students how laws are made, who the U.S. House members are, and the role of various committees. Helpful to teachers and parents, the site also recommends lesson plans, educational resources, and links to other government Web sites. Learn about the House at http://clerkkids.house.gov/.

Comparing Costs
In 1803, it cost the United States $15 million to buy the Louisiana Territory. Ever wonder how much that land would cost today? With PBS Teacher Source's Mathline®, kids can calculate prices today of things that were purchased in the 19th century. Each activity gives detailed directions as to how to convert dollar amounts to today's value, and a separate PDF file provides the answers. Visit www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/concepts/
president/activity1.shtm to start comparing costs.

Musical Melodies
Music teachers looking for a good Web site where children can create their own music should visit www.creatingmusic.com/contours/. Students can create different musical contours by choosing different shapes and then listen to how they shaped a certain piece of music.

Country Studies
More than 100 countries make up the country studies part of the Library of Congress Web site. The studies contain political, social, economic, and national security information as well as how other institutions within the country function. Visit the site at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html for an easy-to-navigate way to begin research on a country.

Examining the Cold War
When did the Cold War really start? A British Web site, located at http://learningcurve.pro.gov.uk/coldwar, provides historical sources, case studies, timelines, and worksheets to allow students to research and examine the beginnings and progression of the Cold War. A teacher's guide is also included.

Just for Teachers
With articles galore on the latest in K-12 education, http://teachers.net/gazette has a wide range of material by educators for educators. Read about the latest in research on education, and, on a lighter note, read teachers' responses to questions such as what the strangest thing brought in for show and tell was. The site, updated monthly, has columns, crafts, recipes, and opinion pieces as well as tips for getting things you write published. ]]>http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0205/reading.htmlhttp://www.nea.org/neatoday/0205/reading.htmlSat, 05 Jan 2002 05:00:00 GMTLearning: Reading
Winning at Reading

A North Carolina elementary school is beating the odds, thanks to a special partnership between teachers and reading researchers.

North Elementary School in Roxboro, North Carolina, isn't the kind of place that would normally catch the eye of a prestigious group of reading research-ers, not to mention educators from five major universities.

"We're one of those overlooked rural places outside of Durham," says fourth grade teacher Blondenia Clayton. "Most of our children get free or reduced lunch, and many come from single-parent homes."

But that doesn't mean spirited work isn't being done, she says. "We have a tremendous desire to help every child learn to read--and a willingness to do just about anything to reach our goal."

And that's precisely why the school was selected for the CIERA Project, a reading achievement project sponsored by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. The project consists of a consortium that includes educators, school districts, and five universities--the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Southern California, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Georgia. It brings together reading researchers and elementary teachers for an ongoing, real life give-and-take.

Barbara Taylor, a principal investigator for CIERA, says North Elementary was a "perfect" choice for the partnership.

"We knew the entire staff would be ready for the long haul of research and classroom application," she says.

And a long--and gratifying--haul it's been. For the past three years the teachers have attended weekly seminars to talk about the reading strategies they use and learn about strategies others have tried.

"As researchers, we observe and add our comments and resources," says Taylor, "but it's the teacher colleague who provides the insight and experience."

The benefits have been endless, says kindergarten teacher Tiffany Dean. "I've had access to the best approaches to teaching reading, and I knew they were backed by research," she says. She's also been able to share books and ideas and "talk about what works and what doesn't."

Clayton says it's been a true collaboration. "Too often teachers are just told what to do," she says. "Here, we're part of the equation and can say, for example, that the sustained silent reading has been great, but here are some suggestions. We provide feedback not only to the researchers, but to each other, and that's key."

Has the partnership made a difference? These days, test scores are up, and North Elementary was recently recognized for best achievement in the district.

The real proof for Blondenia Clayton, however, lies in her classroom. "One day, a child rushed into my classroom and instead of engaging a classmate in small talk, he went straight to his reading buddy to find out what they were reading next.

"He then went to each one of his classmates to check out what they were reading," she says. "That's the best test result of all."

--Anita Merina

How to...
Work with Reading Research

As a teacher, how can you work best with researchers and the research? Here are a few suggestions.

Don't be intimidated. Researchers need your knowledge and skills, too. Researchers know what works best in a classroom, but how about in your classroom? Work together to plan the right strategies and evaluations. Share your experiences and your concerns as well as your successes.

Make the reading research part of your own professional development. Ongoing professional learning is key to an effective early literacy program. A supportive school and school district should recognize the benefits of regular skill-building sessions

Don't miss the opportunity to offer feedback on the home and community connection. Parents, school, and community leaders can also learn from the researcher's expertise and your experience.

Read the research not only from your school but from others in the project or schools similar to yours. Talk to the researchers about the differences between your project and others and strategies that worked elsewhere. Find out how to create a literacy-rich environment.

Above all, learn from the experience. Listen to your reading expert but trust your knowledge as well.

For more information about CIERA and to order Teaching Every Child to Read and other resources, go to www.ciera.org. To contact reading expert Barbara Taylor, E-mail her at bmtaylor@umn.edu

Learning: Reading
Winning at Reading

A North Carolina elementary school is beating the odds, thanks to a special partnership between teachers and reading researchers.

North Elementary School in Roxboro, North Carolina, isn't the kind of place that would normally catch the eye of a prestigious group of reading research-ers, not to mention educators from five major universities.

"We're one of those overlooked rural places outside of Durham," says fourth grade teacher Blondenia Clayton. "Most of our children get free or reduced lunch, and many come from single-parent homes."

But that doesn't mean spirited work isn't being done, she says. "We have a tremendous desire to help every child learn to read--and a willingness to do just about anything to reach our goal."

And that's precisely why the school was selected for the CIERA Project, a reading achievement project sponsored by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. The project consists of a consortium that includes educators, school districts, and five universities--the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Southern California, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Georgia. It brings together reading researchers and elementary teachers for an ongoing, real life give-and-take.

Barbara Taylor, a principal investigator for CIERA, says North Elementary was a "perfect" choice for the partnership.

"We knew the entire staff would be ready for the long haul of research and classroom application," she says.

And a long--and gratifying--haul it's been. For the past three years the teachers have attended weekly seminars to talk about the reading strategies they use and learn about strategies others have tried.

"As researchers, we observe and add our comments and resources," says Taylor, "but it's the teacher colleague who provides the insight and experience."

The benefits have been endless, says kindergarten teacher Tiffany Dean. "I've had access to the best approaches to teaching reading, and I knew they were backed by research," she says. She's also been able to share books and ideas and "talk about what works and what doesn't."

Clayton says it's been a true collaboration. "Too often teachers are just told what to do," she says. "Here, we're part of the equation and can say, for example, that the sustained silent reading has been great, but here are some suggestions. We provide feedback not only to the researchers, but to each other, and that's key."

Has the partnership made a difference? These days, test scores are up, and North Elementary was recently recognized for best achievement in the district.

The real proof for Blondenia Clayton, however, lies in her classroom. "One day, a child rushed into my classroom and instead of engaging a classmate in small talk, he went straight to his reading buddy to find out what they were reading next.

"He then went to each one of his classmates to check out what they were reading," she says. "That's the best test result of all."

--Anita Merina

How to...
Work with Reading Research

As a teacher, how can you work best with researchers and the research? Here are a few suggestions.

Don't be intimidated. Researchers need your knowledge and skills, too. Researchers know what works best in a classroom, but how about in your classroom? Work together to plan the right strategies and evaluations. Share your experiences and your concerns as well as your successes.

Make the reading research part of your own professional development. Ongoing professional learning is key to an effective early literacy program. A supportive school and school district should recognize the benefits of regular skill-building sessions

Don't miss the opportunity to offer feedback on the home and community connection. Parents, school, and community leaders can also learn from the researcher's expertise and your experience.

Read the research not only from your school but from others in the project or schools similar to yours. Talk to the researchers about the differences between your project and others and strategies that worked elsewhere. Find out how to create a literacy-rich environment.

Above all, learn from the experience. Listen to your reading expert but trust your knowledge as well.

For more information about CIERA and to order Teaching Every Child to Read and other resources, go to www.ciera.org. To contact reading expert Barbara Taylor, E-mail her at bmtaylor@umn.edu

Learning: Problems and Solutions
Taking Poems Out of Hiding

Vermont Poetry Project connects student poets with online mentors.

"Poems hide," according to Naomi Shihab Nye's poem Valentines for Earnest Mann. "They are the shadows drifting across our ceilings the moment before we wake up."

If poems are indeed hiding, then Carla Kotas Lewis helps students find them. Lewis, an elementary school teacher in Fayston, Vermont, heads the Vermont Poetry Project. The program lets students in the 1st through 12th grades post their poetry on a Web site for other students, teachers, and poetry mentors across the state.

The Web site, which participants access with a username and password, provides a secure location where students and teachers can read student-written poems and offer constructive criticism. Teachers help students select poems for the site and also monitor feedback.

As a lifetime lover of poetry, Lewis was excited when David Gibson of the National Institute for Community Innovations asked her to work on the project. Based in Vermont, NICI sponsors the poetry site, as well as similar projects for the arts, humanities, and social sciences. NICI also connects teachers with Web-based resources and strategies for incorporating technology into their classes. Gibson asked Lewis to head the poetry project after meeting her at a statewide conference on e-learning applications.

"The importance of online mentoring is that students get to hear what an expert thinks about their work, and they get ideas and opinions about ways to elaborate or change their artistic expression," Gibson says.

The project, which launched in January, seeks to pinpoint the exact kind of feedback the student poets seek. Students who submit poems must explain the context behind their pieces. They also can ask for help with specific parts of their poems.

"Sometimes kids will just ask what others think the title of the poem should be, but we're trying to get them to focus more on taking charge of their own feedback by telling us exactly what they need," Lewis says.

As head of the Vermont Poetry Project, Lewis visits elementary and secondary schools around the state to teach students about poetry. She shows students how to write with precise language and free verse. She also helps them post their work to the poetry Web site and critique poems from other students.

Lewis enjoys getting students to write poems and seeing how far their imaginations go when she pushes them in the right direction. She makes the students focus on descriptive words and imagery and encourages them to use their senses to visualize certain objects. Lewis calls these exercises "stretching the image" and hopes the descriptions students develop eventually transfer to their writing.

Lewis also encourages her students to read good poetry. Reading good poetry does not mean dissecting every word or image, Lewis says. Instead she wants students to establish a personal connection with a poem.

"I don't want them to be lost when they read a poem, and I don't expect every poem to speak to them," she says.

In addition to her work on the Vermont Poetry Project, Lewis is also the state's Christa McAuliffe Fellow.

As a fellow, she works with teachers and the Vermont Department of Education to revise the state's existing reading and literature standards. Lewis serves as a resource for schools developing standards-based units and other projects focused on Vermont's school reform agenda.

Even though Lewis has 25 years of classroom experience, her fellowship has given her a broader perspective about teaching.

"Teachers often get caught up in their day-to-day activities, and the fellowship gave me a unique chance to step back and see what I do and why," she says.

Lewis will return to her multi-age third and fourth grade class at Fayston Elementary School this fall, where she will continue to manage the online mentoring program. She hopes the project will encourage students to keep writing poetry.

"I love reading great poetry," Lewis says. "I hope the students will draw something from their peers' poems that motivates them to take their own poems out of hiding."

--Urmila Subramanyam

For more: E-mail Carla Lewis at cakole@aol.com or visit the National Institute for Community Innovations Web site at www.nici-mc2.org.

[DILEMMA]
How do you keep students from losing ground over the summer?

On the last day of school, I send home a summer packet of various skills students can work on that includes handwriting, math, and language arts activities. If the children return the completed packet at the beginning of the next school year, they receive a small token, such as a pencil or scented stickers.

Karen Phillips
Primary teacher
Arnold, Maryland

Many teachers have their students keep a journal for writing daily events. Why not extend that writing into the summer? Students can write accounts of vacations, family reunions, movies, and other summer activities. Not only is it a good way to maintain written communication skills, but it also may become a family project without the stress and time constraints of the school year.

Jan Phillips
Elementary special education teacher
Woodruff, South Carolina

The teacher with whom I work and I send home a summer work folder filled with activities and worksheets students use to "play school" during the summer. We have found that many students really enjoy and look forward to receiving their summer folders. We also encourage students to read by sending home books without expecting students to return them!

Victoria Barry
Elementary intervention assistant
Mentor, Ohio

I meet with my students' parents each spring before we get out for summer vacation. During the annual review, I give the parents a list of things to do with their child over the summer, such as counting change, telling time, checking for certain things in the newspaper and on TV, talking about weather facts, and using the calendar. These are skills we practice daily during the school year.

Susan Randall
High school special education teacher
Lancaster, South Carolina

I send a couple of postcards and letters to students during the summer with suggestions for books to read, basic facts, games to play, and encouragement to prepare for the coming year. The children seem to enjoy getting mail. Some of them use the helpful hints, and those that don't can start the new year feeling like they know me.

Betty Hawker
Fifth grade teacher
Carlsbad, New Mexico

I make a calendar for August that has activities my students can do every day of the month until school starts. At the end of the year I tell students to take a vacation from school in June and July. They can read books and practice their cursive writing and math if they choose, but they are to have fun during those months. Then starting August 1 they use the calendar to get ready for school again. I teach second grade, so the activity on August 1 is to say the alphabet. On August 2 they count to 100. Each day adds more and more ideas. By the time school starts the students have read several books, completed several worksheets, and can remember most of the things they learned from second grade. They are ready to start third grade and have had fun preparing for it.

Ruth Schlosser
Second grade teacher
Pontiac, Illinois

I work with students who have special needs and they are, by law, given the opportunity to attend summer school. My students require constant repetition in all learning situations. So during these summer sessions, we review classroom rules for days until the students can repeat them or demonstrate that they understand them. We repeat many physical tasks, like touring the building and filling out bathroom passes. When it comes to academics, we review and reinforce the skills they already have learned, then we move forward if possible.

Barbara Morris
Middle school integration paraeducator
Wilmington, Delaware

Got an Answer?
How do you get parents involved at your school?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@list.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Include your name, city, state, and job title. If published, you will receive an NEA Today mug!

Idea Exchange

Literature Letters
In a project I call literature letters my students choose a book to read with a partner. The students divide the book into four sections. After they read the first section, they write letters explaining that section to their partners. The partners write back and ask questions about the book. This interchange helps the students concentrate on the events of the story because they know they must explain them in their letters.

Carol Aten
Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania

Foam Manipulatives
If your school or district has an Ellison letter cutter, you can make a variety of inexpensive and durable math manipulatives using craft foam. Craft foam sheets are available for less than a dollar per sheet from most craft stores. You can find templates to make tangrams, pentominoes, pattern blocks, and fraction circles. After you get the foam, use a paper cutter to cut it to fit into the Ellison. You can make enough manipulatives for an entire class with very little investment. You also can use the letter templates and other designs to make attractive bulletin boards with a 3-D effect.

Marta Haakenson
Grand Junction, Colorado

Secret Story Words
I put the names of people, places, things, and vocabulary words from a story we've read on small pieces of paper and tape them to my students' backs. They wander around the room asking their classmates yes and no questions to try and figure out their words.

When they've figured out what their words are, they return to their seats and write down how their words relate to the story.

When everyone has finished, we review each student's word, starting with the first person who guessed his or her secret story word correctly.

Janice Roehr
Middletown, Rhode Island

Have a great idea? You can pass along your tip to NEA Today's 2.6 million readers in one of five ways:

• By mail: NEA Today, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036

• By phone: 202/822-7201

• By fax: 202/822-7206

• By E-mail: Ideas@neatoday.nea.org

• Through the Web: www.nea.org/neatoday

'If I wrote the law...'

Educators speak out on what they'd put in a sweeping education law.

The reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act--The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001--will affect every educator in the nation. The past two issues of NEA Today have reported on what the law states and what members think of it. This month, members offer their views on what the law would look like if they had written it.

No student should be in a high school with more than 1,000 kids. Motiva-tion is 80 percent of this job. A child needs to feel, "If I get hurt, it matters to people." Then that child will care about the work. And it's much easier to build human relationships in a smaller institution.

Kristin Botello
High school English teacher
Los Angeles, California

The best way to ensure that "no child is left behind" is to ensure that no child gets behind in the first place. That means the federal government must work with state governments, local school districts, and social service agencies to provide early childhood education, medical assistance, and other preventive programs to make students' playing fields as level as possible. We simply must stop the ridiculous debate about whether class size makes a difference. Of course smaller class sizes are more expensive, but the cost of students getting and then staying behind is infinitely higher.

Patrick Campbell
Middle school special education teacher
Rochester, Minnesota

I would write a law that reflects the fact that all young people don't learn in the same ways. It isn't possible for every child to be reading by the end of third grade. Poverty, abuse, and mental and physical challenges all impact a youngster's readiness to learn. The amount of gray matter given by the Creator also plays a role.

I would write a law that provides adequate funding for professional development. Money should not be taken away from a school trying to meet the needs of those students who struggle the most.

Carolyn Grice
Student and community services specialist
Omaha, Nebraska

'We need to reach every child every day.'
"Children are the message we send to a time we will not see." (author unknown)

If we are to send a message of success and accomplishment, we need to be an educational society that is fair, competitive, and compassionate. For that, we need personal contact and time.

Time is our most precious commodity. We need time to be fair! We need time to be compassionate! We need time to teach! I am not asking for longer school days or all-year school. I am asking for smaller classes. If we are to leave no child behind, we need to reach every child every day.

Jennifer Black
Kindergarten teacher
Sheridan, Wyoming

I teach ninth grade world history. To me, leaving no child behind means that every student who enters my classroom will be able to read and write at the ninth grade level. I have a dozen students who cannot read or write. They are doomed to fail most of their high school courses.

Our system IEPs mandate that teachers read tests to students who cannot read or write. When are these kids going to be taught to read or write? If we don't do it, who will?

Jerry Mower
History teacher
Bedford, Wyoming

I am the new guardian of a 16-year-old girl. She has been left behind, but not by the schools. It is true her school performance is terrible, but that is because of the failures of her parents and of our society.

Her father kicked her out