Education Resources Blog

Summer is right around the corner, and in a perfect world, your classroom is humming along like a well-oiled machine with students trained in classroom routines and expectations. Truth is: the end of the year can be challenging for staff and students alike. With end-of-year testing, constantly changing schedules, and trying to keep a lid on students who are anxious to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, it can be difficult to fill in the gaps with engaging activities during the last couple of weeks at school. Use your VariQuest tools to support some interesting and meaningful end of year activities in your classroom.

The sun has risen before you begin your commute to work and is miraculously still shining when you arrive back home. The weekends in your planner for the summer are quickly filling with vacations, weddings and other fun celebrations. Your new sandals have arrived in the box on your doorstep. It can only mean one thing… summer is right around the corner.

I’m sure you’ve heard the rumblings online about the “new” way that math is being taught now that the Common Core standards for math are in place.

In this lesson, students will explore the animals that are symbolic of the Chinese Lunar Zodiac Calendar, then use what they have learned to write a poem.

In this lesson for grades 9-12, students will analyze the impact of physical and cultural geographies on China’s development. First, download the PDF for each of the Chinese Dynasty maps from the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s “The Art of Asia” website. Use the Perfecta Series Poster Design System to print each PDF at poster-size. Print multiple copies of a current map of China and surrounding countries for individual student use. Display the Chinese Dynasty map posters around the room for student exploration.

Looking for resources for the 2020 Chinese New Year? Check out our blog post here. The Chinese New Year falls on February 19, 2015. In this lesson, students will read about Chinese New Year traditions, compare them to American traditions, then celebrate by practicing one of the Chinese New Year traditions.

I’ve been particularly drawn to picture books recently, and not just because it was just Picture Book Month. Children of all ages love listening to a story, which makes a read aloud an engaging way to introduce a new unit of study at any grade level. As a language arts teacher, I frequently use mentor texts as a springboard for discussion about a topic, or to model reading and writing strategies I want students to emulate. Continue reading to learn how I incorporate picture book read alouds in my 6th grade Reading and Language Arts class.

With Election Day around the corner, now is the time to get students involved in how the election process works and informed about why it is important for them to be voting citizens.

With Election Day around the corner, now is the time to get students involved in how the election process works and informed about why it is important for them to be voting citizens.

Whether we like it or not, high stakes testing has arrived. One of our main responsibilities as educators is to prepare students for success on these tests. For students to succeed, we must get students’ buy in on the importance of these tests. If students own their growth in their test scores, they are more likely to take the test seriously. They are also more likely to invest time into their education, which is what we ultimately are trying to achieve.