February is Black History Month!  This month I am going to do a weekly blog on books that you can read to your students that will help you honor and recognize the achievement of African-Americans.    I love using picture books to teach content.  Short, sweet and powerful for all ages!  Yes, even seniors in high [...]

Quilts to Freedom!   When you look at a quilt, what do you see?  Cool designs?  Something to wrap around you on a cold night?  If you had been a slave, you might have seen a map to freedom! According to the book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, by Deborah Hopkinson, quilts were used to [...]

Scarcity?  Opportunity Cost?  Goods and Services?  Natural and capital resources?  Teaching financial literacy to elementary students is a “Where do I begin?” situation.  It’s a vocabulary nightmare, but I found a way to make it less painful for me and the students.  I use literature to help me discuss these terms – the students love [...]

Aaaaaaaaaa, so long July, hello August!  As a teacher, I have a love/hate relationship with August, but we must learn to work it out as we’re both here to stay. With that in mind, I happily begin thinking about how much I love my classroom.  It’s a place where my students thrive academically and socially.  [...]

The typical 10 year old doesn’t like to take tests. When announcing a test, I could hear a collective groan from my students. It shouldn’t be that way! No need to get nervous about a test … if they are prepared for the test. Tests show us what someone already understands and what they still [...]

Welcome to March. I love March. March is the cushion between winter and spring! The days are refreshingly longer! And, it’s Women’s History Month! Time to recognize the contribution of women in history! No more “History” kids, it’s time for HERstory! I suggest using literature to enhance your efforts at bringing “Herstory Alive” this month. [...]

Technology in the classroom is not new! Going from chalk boards to marker boards was a big improvement. Reel to Reel videos were replaced by TVs in the classroom! Bert asked the lunch crowd to think about the technology that they’ve used in the classroom – we’ve come along way baby! As I thought about [...]

Nancy Bredin is our Director of Outreach and a former elementary classroom teacher. Do you have “it”?  I recently found out that apparently I have “it.”  A former student told me that I was her favorite teacher and more importantly shared that social studies became her favorite subject because of my class!  She recounted in [...]