Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty

For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families, according to a new analysis of 2013 federal data, a statistic that has profound implications for the nation.

The Southern Education Foundation reports that 51 percent of students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the 2012-2013 school year were eligible for the federal program that provides free and reduced-price lunches. The lunch program is a rough proxy for poverty, but the explosion in the number of needy children in the nation’s public classrooms is a recent phenomenon that has been gaining attention among educators, public officials and researchers.

“We’ve all known this was the trend, that we would get to a majority, but it’s here sooner rather than later,” said Michael A. Rebell of the Campaign for Educational Equity at Teachers College at Columbia University, noting that the poverty rate has been increasing even as the economy has improved. “A lot of people at the top are doing much better, but the people at the bottom are not doing better at all. Those are the people who have the most children and send their children to public school.”

The shift to a majority-poor student population means that in public schools, a growing number of children start kindergarten already trailing their more privileged peers and rarely, if ever, catch up. They are less likely to have support at home, are less frequently exposed to enriching activities outside of school, and are more likely to drop out and never attend college.

It also means that education policy, funding decisions and classroom instruction must adapt to the needy children who arrive at school each day.

“When they first come in my door in the morning, the first thing I do is an inventory of immediate needs: Did you eat? Are you clean? A big part of my job is making them feel safe,” said Sonya Romero-Smith, a veteran teacher at Lew Wallace Elementary School in Albuquerque. Fourteen of her 18 kindergartners are eligible for free lunches.

She helps them clean up with bathroom wipes and toothbrushes, and she stocks a drawer with clean socks, underwear, pants and shoes.

Romero-Smith, 40, who has been a teacher for 19 years, became a foster mother in November to two girls, sisters who attend her school. They had been homeless, their father living on the streets and their mother in jail, she said. When she brought the girls home, she was shocked by the disarray of their young lives.

Read the rest here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/majority-of-us-public-school-students-are-in-poverty/2015/01/15/df7171d0-9ce9-11e4-a7ee-526210d665b4_story.html

Thanksgiving Food Lab

American Thanksgiving is upon us and usually I celebrate with turkey dinner (my husband is American)

Here is a cool food lab from We Are Teachers

Erin Bittman

Don't just eat your food, play with it! Below are six Thanksgiving food experiments that promote exploration and investigation in the classroom!






Bending Turkey BonesWash the bones left over from your Thanksgiving dinner. Can you bend or break the bones? No! Get two jars, fill one jar with vinegar and the other with water. Put bones in each jar and label the jars: water and vinegar. Let the turkey bones sit for at least one week. Then, rinse them off and see if the bones will bend! The bones that were in vinegar bend because the calcium carbonate in the bones reacted with the vinegar. This experiment shows how bones need calcium to stay strong so they don't break easily (or bend). We don't want bendy bones!





Sweet Potato InvestigationWatch a potato sprout right before your eyes, creating a sweet potato jungle! For your experiment, look for a sweet potato that has buds. Next, poke four toothpicks into the sides of the sweet potato (spaced out evenly). Put the sweet potato into a clean jar, resting the toothpicks on the jar's rim. Fill the jar with water. The bottom half of the potato should be submerged. Place the jar in a sunny spot, change the water once a week and watch your potato grow! To get your plant to grow bushier, trim stems to 12 inches long.







Cranberry ScienceCranberry Pockets - Do cranberries sink or float? Give each child a Styrofoam cup with water and a cranberry. Have them write their own hypothesis. What happened? Talk about cranberry bogs and harvesting (click here). Then, cut the cranberry in half, so kids can see the inside of it. Cranberries have four air pockets inside of them, which makes them float!
Dancing Dried Cranberries - Explore the three states of matter by making cranberries dance! Toss dried cranberries into a glass of Sprite and watch them bob up and down. The bubbles (carbon dioxide gas) in the soda stick to the rough edges of the dried cranberry. The bubbles bring them up to the top of the glass. Then they pop and release the CO2 into the air, making the dried cranberries fall back down. Spy Juice - Students become spies and write secret messages to one another using homemade cranberry juice! Visit the Kitchen Pantry Scientist to learn how to concoct the juice and unveil your top secret writing!

Corn Cob Lab
Popping - Students will be amazed when they create a cob of popcorn! Place a dried corn on the cob in a brown paper lunch bag. Fold over the bag two times to keep the kernels contained. Microwave for 2 1/2 minutes or until the popcorn has stopped popping. Eat it as a classroom treat or use it for a science experiment! Place the popped cob outside and watch as different animal species come by and eat off of the ear of corn. Have the students record the different types of animals in their science notebook and have a lesson on biodiversity. What animals live within your habitat? How are they all connected in your ecosystem? Sprouting - Each kernel on an ear of corn is a seed. By placing a whole ear of corn in water, you can grow a corn cob garden! Instructions: Place a husk free, colorful, dry ear of Indian Corn in a shallow container of water. The corn should only be covered a little more than halfway with water. Place your container in a sunny spot. When the water evaporates, add more and make sure the corn remains submerged in the water. After five days, change the water. Make sure that the side you had up remains up after you change the water. The wet side of the corn is the side you place back in the water and keep submerged. Watch it grow, after a week you will start to see small sprouts or shoots.

Butter ExplorationInvestigate the 3 states of matter by shaking up cream to create butter! Pour one cup of heavy whipping cream in a container with a lid. Once poured, the container should be no more than halfway full (half cream / half air). Shake your liquid and gas to make butter! As you shake, open up your container and check out each stage as your liquid and gas suddenly create a whipped solid: butter! When your butter is ready, refrigerate it. It will become a bit harder. Note: 1 cup of cream will create about 4 Tbsp. of butter). Add some salt to your butter to give it more flavor!






Whipped Test: Whipping Versus ShakingTop your Thanksgiving Food Lab off with a sweet ending! Using the same ingredients, heavy whipping cream and air, can you create a different substance? Using a hand mixer, whip 1 cup of cream until you get stiff peaks. Add a little sugar if you want sweet cream. Have the students compare and contrast the butter and whip cream they created. Compare the volume, texture and taste of each food item. Students can draw and label the states of matter for all of the ingredients they used and describe the process for each in writing.
Erin Bittman is a second/third-grade student teacher in a multi-grade classroom at a German Magnet School. She attends the University of Cincinnati. Check out her blog E is for Explore!

SOURCE: http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2014/11/13/thanksgiving-food-lab

I am thankful for Pumpkin Pie... Craft/Writing activity

While I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving back in October, my teacher friends to the south celebrate this week. I am planning to enjoy some American (late) Thanksgiving Saturday night with friends and family, and can NOT wait for some delicious turkey and pumpkin pie.

This easy-peasy craft / writing assignment can be done with elementary students. I have included photos, materials, instructions and source links in both French and English.

My Canadian colleagues may wish to file this away for next October, but my American readers can enjoy it this week. All you need is some orange paper, paper plates, scissors, markers and paper fasteners/pin (for the middle so it can spin)

Students can write a few things they are thankful for, cut the orange paper into a circle slightly smaller than the paper plate with a "slice" cut out. Then fasten together like so.....


   

Easy-Peasy? You could even do some cutting prep ahead of time if they are younger/primary.



http://www.pinterest.com/pin/61431982390903366/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/61431982390903395/

Article: Exhaustion of the American Teacher

Exhaustion of the American Teacher, this is a pretty good read.

http://theeducatorsroom.com/2012/09/the-exhaustion-of-the-american-teacher/

Rosa's Law

This is old news, but something I wanted to share.... I hate "the 'R' word"

Rosa’s Law is named after 8-year-old Rosa Marcellino, who has Down Syndrome. After starting elementary school, the Marcellino family was shocked to find her labeled as “retarded” in school documents.  Their push to have this changed ended in a new law signed by President Obama, changing the way all people with exceptionalities will be addressed.

On October 5, 2010, President Obama signed into law Senate Bill 2781 (S.2781), referred to as Rosa’s Law.  Rosa’s Law (S. 2781) amends the provisions of Federal law to substitute the term “intellectual disability” for “mental retardation” and “individuals with intellectual disabilities” for “mentally retarded” or “individuals who are mentally retarded.”  At this time, Rosa’s Law (S. 2781) does not require states to change terminology in state regulations for individuals covered by a provision amended by this Act.

Changes in Federal regulations will occur as they are reauthorized. Changes to both the Federal data reporting categories and Federal regulatory language is anticipated to occur with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  Subsequent to the reauthorization of IDEA, Pennsylvania will make the required changes in terminology in state regulations.  This change in terminology reflects the belief that language plays a crucial role in how individuals with disabilities are perceived and treated in society. No changes have been made in the process of determination of disability categories.