World Food Day: Building Empathy Through Food Stories

Author: Sharon Hall | Posted:
Categories: Classroom Application | Tags: , , , ,
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World Food Day, observed on October 16, offers educators a meaningful opportunity to help students explore the connections between food, culture, and empathy. While food is a shared experience across all cultures, access, traditions, and meaning vary widely around the world. Bringing stories about food into the classroom helps students learn to see beyond their … read more »

Beyond 10/10 – Making the Metric System Stick All Year Long

Author: Traci Hedetniemi | Posted:
Categories: Classroom Application | Tags: , , , ,
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October 10 may be a perfect 10 out of 10 day for teaching about the metric system, but achieving fluency with measurement is a year-long task. October is an opportune time for this essential mathematical learning.  While students have been developing their number sense in other areas, now they can work on building a conceptual … read more »

Bringing Poetry to Your Classroom with T.S. Eliot

Author: Erin Mulvany-Mankowski | Posted:
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Do you like Cats? Not the cute little fuzzballs that curl in your lap and purr as you read your favorite book, but the 1981, Andrew Lloyd Webber, fourth-longest-running-musical-masterpiece-performed-entirely-in-song Cats. If your answer is no, bear with me and don’t go anywhere. But if your answer is yes, then I’m sure you know that Cats … read more »

Supporting Digital Storytelling in the Secondary School Library

Author: Darshell Silva | Posted:
Categories: Library Media | Tags: , , , ,
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Digital storytelling blends narrative with multimedia—text, images, audio, and video—to help students craft meaningful, expressive stories using tools that reflect how they learn and communicate today. In the secondary school library, librarians are uniquely positioned to guide students in harnessing this dynamic approach to learning, creativity, and digital literacy. It’s not just about using technology—it’s … read more »

AI-Powered Interactive Activity Creation with Canva Code

Author: Sharon Hall | Posted:
Categories: Classroom Application | Tags: , ,
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You probably already know that Canva (reviewed here) can create stunning visuals in minutes, but what if it could also generate interactive activities without you having to learn how to code? It’s now possible with their AI code generator, Canva Code.  Canva Code makes it easy to transform your content into custom games, activities, and … read more »

Deeper Thinking with Perspective-Taking Routines

Author: Traci Hedetniemi | Posted:
Categories: Classroom Application, Digital Citizenship | Tags: , , , ,
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In today’s interconnected world, developing perspective-taking skills in high school students is not just a pedagogical goal; it’s essential for fostering critical thinking, empathy, and digital citizenship. These skills are integral to shaping today’s high school graduates, and educators play a significant role in turning this abstract goal into concrete instructional practices that encourage students … read more »

Back to School Community Building Activities for Secondary Classrooms

Author: Erin Mulvany-Mankowski | Posted:
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“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou Ahh…it is the joyous, wonderful time of the year where teachers are running wild, preparing their classroom for the next group of minds waiting to discover their full … read more »

The Energy Detective Approach: How to Integrate SDG #7 into Any Classroom

Author: Sharon Hall | Posted:
Categories: Classroom Application | Tags: , ,
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What if your students could become real-world problem solvers while mastering essential academic skills? By transforming your classroom into an energy detective headquarters, you can seamlessly integrate UN Sustainable Development Goal #7—ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all—into engaging, hands-on learning experiences. The energy detective approach converts abstract global challenges into … read more »

Creating Responsible Digital Citizens Through Digital Source Evaluation

Author: Erin Mulvany-Mankowski | Posted:
Categories: Classroom Application, Digital Citizenship, Media Literacy | Tags: , ,
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Digital citizenship has come into greater focus for educators over the years as misinformation has begun to dominate social media news feeds. According to a 2024 fact sheet from Pew Research Center, more than 54% of American adults receive their news from social media outlets, and we know this number is much higher for younger … read more »

Dreaming with Depth: Using Thinking Routines to Explore MLK’s Speech Across Grade Levels

Author: Sharon Hall | Posted:
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On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood before thousands and painted a dream of justice, dignity, and equality. His words still echo across classrooms today—but how do we help students truly hear them? On this anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech, we invite educators to move beyond passive listening and … read more »