Teacher’s Corner

Decide what message you want to communicate. Maybe it is something you need to say so often that your students are no longer paying attention to the message.

Start by writing down your message. Then try to say it with rhyming words. If you’re not a language arts teacher, don’t turn away yet. It’s not as hard as you may think.

Use a rhyming book or an Internet site for help – or ask a co-worker, friend, neighbor, or child to offer ideas. You can even use made-up words. You could engage your family at home and write the poem as a group effort.

When it’s time to give your message, recite your poem.  Be sure to tell the students what it was like to write it – hard, fun, made you proud to finish it, etc.  Post your poem where it can be seen.

Ask your students if they would like to try saying something this new way and, if so, go through the steps with them.

Teachers, you can use this blog in classrooms. Here are two ideas about how.

1. For middle or high school parenting or child development courses:
   • Use the blog for discussion topics
   • Require students to research the topics and agree or disagree with what the blog is suggesting.
2. For all courses, especially English Language Arts:

• Use the blog for writing prompts for paragraphs, theme papers, journal entries, class starters, etc. Have students read the blog and respond to:
• Do you agree with what is being said about kids? Do kids really act, think or feel that way?
• Do you agree with what is being said about parents, grandparents, teachers and child caregivers? Do or should they act, think or feel that way?
• What would be your advice on this topic?
• What was left out of this article?
• If you were a parent, would you use any of this information? How?

Why can this blog be a useful teaching tool?

• Students that see connections between their coursework and their lives do better in school.
• Most students will either be parents one day or have children in their lives that they care about, so the topical information can help them build their knowledge about children and parenting and develop a positive image of the type of parenting they want to do.
• The new core literacy standards adopted by most states call for frequent writing in all courses.
• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can think critically. These prompts help students practice critical thinking.
• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can analyze what they read. These prompts help students practice analysis.