Yes, my cell booster has to be hooked up directly to the internet. Even with that, my signal can still be troublesome, and that is with a strong internet signal. It's quite annoying.

That, is very cool. I love that it was found by a lay archeologist.

Space Camp is a good one.

My experience is that by fourth grade, most public school students are expected to be able to write a paragraph and will most likely write several multi-paragraph papers throughout the year including: reports, persuasive papers, and narratives.

I second the Twilight series. Just reading the first sentence made me twitch Also, I really do not like the Divergent series. I just find the whole premise of groups of people devoting themselves to one emotion absurd. Plus, the main character is very Mary Sue-ish.

I also thought the 94 version was closest to the actual book.

It's wonderful that they are finally feeling safe.

You'll get no argument from me. I find persuasive writing with third and fourth graders extremely challenging. Unfortunately, even persuasive topics that are "child friendly" such as, students should/should not wear uniforms, require text evidence that ends up being written at an adult level, except maybe something like Times for Kids. I need something in kid-friendly language. I haven't been able to find any reading lists in my local district but maybe I can look around some other districts since most have adopted CC. I will look into the Junior Great books. I thought they were more novel length but they could be perfect. I hadn't heard of Mosdos. On my way to check it out. Thanks!

Thanks! I'll check it out.

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I was hoping I might get some assistance from the Hive. I am teaching multiple students (grades 3-8) persuasive writing using several sources, but what seems to work best is an agglomeration of them with my own spin. After reading through The Lost Tools of Writing, I began using fairy tales. Certain ones worked well, others not. I'm looking for short stories or picture books that could have a persuasive argument, and be supported by details in the story. For example, Jack and the Beanstalk has worked very well. We have read the Joseph Jacobs version and try to support the argument: Jack should not have stolen from the ogre. Pretty much all of my students have been able to come up with three consistent reasons to support the argument; it's not right to steal, Jack could have been hurt, and the ogre's wife was kind to Jack. The first reason can usually be supported with anecdotal evidence of the consequences of stealing in our current society. The other two arguments can be supported directly by the text (Jack could have been hurt: the ogre eats boys, the beanstalk goes all the way to the sky and he could have fallen, some even mention the ax as a danger). Other fairy tales don't have the same level of evidence to support it. In Snow White, if the child chose to write about how she shouldn't have accepted something from a stranger, the only evidence that supports it is the same thing; the dwarves told her not to open the door to strangers and every time she did she got hurt. For some reason, I am having difficulty finding books and short stories that a.) a student could make a good persuasive argument and b.) that has text evidence (a huge issue right now in public schools around here) to support at least two reasons. Does anyone have possible suggestions of picture books or short stories for kids around ages 8-12 that would meet these requirements? Thanks!

Since the school does sound like it advocates for tolerance, I would go to them first. They might be able to direct the parent to advocates that would help them discuss this with their son. Even well-meaning parents, parents who will not react violently or abusively can say hurtful things, inadvertently, but still hurtful; things that their child won't ever forget. Also, this kiddo is still quite young. He might not be gay at all, just curious or questioning. He needs help and guidance. The parents might even appreciate some guidance as they could feel genuinely thrown by this revelation. As to the aspect of the parents knowing first; it would be nice if the world worked that way. But a good percentage of homeless youth are gay. As Ravin said, children and young people are still beaten and harassed by the people who should love them the most. It's the kid that needs to be thought of first.

Anything by Amy Tan. I really enjoy Jaqueline Woodson although her writing is all YA. Octavia Butler is amazing but her books are sci-fi. She has an interesting time travel book, Kindred. Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, of course. Not light reading exactly, but very good.

I have it. I think mine is related to stress although sometimes it just happens. No meds. It helps if I lay down, that's usually the only thing that works. When I was younger my mom use to put her hand over my heart. I think that helped because I would feel less anxious. Most convert within seconds/minutes. I've had a few last for 30 minutes or so. I find that I feel that I'm short of breath, but it's not actually true. It's the racing heartbeat that makes me feel that I need to gasp. It's annoying but it doesn't actually harm me.

There's a picture book called: Benjamin McFadden And The Robot Babysitter by Timothy Bush A relatively new series: House of Robots by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. The second one is coming out in November. Both books are humorous.

There's a whole series about the Smurfs.

I enjoy classical literature and the Hunger Games. While I don't think that the Hunger Games falls in the realms of great literature, I do think it has thematic and literary elements that could lead to interesting discussion. As was suggested, pairing with great literature could be very easily done. Thematically: love, friendship, honor, the horrors of war, etc. The whole "star-crossed lovers" aspect could lead to a discussion of what that means and jump into Romeo and Juliet and compare it to Katniss and Peeta; how it does and doesn't apply to them. The quote about power: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.†and how it relates to President Snow could lead to comparisons to The Lord of the Flies. The trilogy also explores the idea of the media and reality TV (which is what the Hunger Games really is) and how that effects people and leads to the exploitation of others. The whole idea of "Panem en Circuses" (Panem is the name of the whole country) was that if you fed people and entertain them, they will keep the masses content which is exactly what the districts supply to the Capitol. ​Besides thematic elements there's the whole idea of a first-person narrative (paired with The Outsiders maybe?) and how it effects the story. I don't think that people understand how unreliable a narrator Katniss is unless they read the whole trilogy. At first it's little things; like misunderstanding Peeta's intentions but then you realize how much her unreliability effects what we understand of the story. <spoiler alert> Haymitch, who has pretty much been portrayed as a senseless drunk, is a major part of the rebellion. How long has he been part of it? How much of his drunkeness was an act? We never know. Later we find out the Finnick, in direct opposition of what is expected happens to victors when they win (rich and happy for the rest of their lives), was actually required to "sell his body" as per President Snow's orders...and he wasn't the only victor required to do so. The vocabulary and sentence structure aren't as strong as the classics, but I think it has enough elements to be analyzed. I probably would use it more at the seventh/eighth level and save the classics for high school.

Fernwithy is a school librarian who writes fabulous stories. Most of her focus is on Hunger Games and Harry Potter stories. She does some amazing world-building with the Hunger Games, especially with the adults in the series. She rewrote the trilogy from Haymitch's perspective (as well as a prequel to the trilogy) and several other short stories from other characters' perspectives. Her extreme attention to detail and her assertion of Katniss as an unreliable narrator makes certain events she expands on very interesting. It made me reread the books and notice certain "glitches" or unexplained events from Katniss's perspective that are never explained. http://archiveofourown.org/users/FernWithy/pseuds/FernWithy

Yeah, looked further and that seems like what what it means. Hm. Wonder if they'll come out with more curriculum at a later time. If you do, please let us know how it goes. :)

I think maybe the Interact site is more clear. The scope and sequence seems to be primarily the first unit. On the Interact site there are clearly three units for $134.85. Outbreak, Survival, Resettlement. Each unit has around 20 lessons and the lessons are anywhere between 4-10 hours each. http://www.interact-simulations.com/c/product.html?record@TF45481[email protected]<script cf-hash='f9e31' type="text/javascript"> /* */</script> Good to know. This is an excellent point. I was hoping someone had used it and could speak about their experiences. :)

So with the three sets, each roughly being 20 lessons apiece, that would be $45 for each set. Is that pretty expensive compared to other geography programs? I think I would probably only do one set a year. Edited to clarify: From the response I understand it is expensive. However if each lesson takes anywhere from 6-10 hours which gives a total of 75 hours of instruction, how does that compare to other geography programs?

Has anyone used this program before? http://www.zombiebased.com As stated on the site: Zombie-Based Curriculum features:Designed for grades 4-8 10 Units, 75 hours of Project-Based Learning instruction Approx. 35% of instruction is projects Designed by a Highly Qualified teacher in Social Studies and English Language Arts Projects include skills needed for Common Core and other state standards:complex texts, evidence-based argumentation, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking to solve real world problems Based on 2012 National Geography Standards Developed with Understanding by Design® Comic book offers out of classroom engagement Benefits:Excellent supplement to add Geography to existing social studies program Flexible to incorporate local geography or to expand globally Incorporates Common Core skills across content areas beyond ELA Designed for customization Designed to encourage out of classroom informal learning Obviously, the zombie element isn't for everyone but it would work for some. I've looked at the scope and sequence, compared it to geography standards, and it seems solid overall. When you go to the Interact site, where you can actually purchase the materials, there are three units of study. As I am not an expert in geography I would really appreciate knowing whether this is a complete program (at least for the grades it's intended).

Quite a few people on the board use Dancing Bears, you might want check other threads. It could be a great additional program. The recommendation is to do it for ten minutes a day.

Any sensory items he likes? There's a lot of chews and mouth toys. Pressure items. We double taped fabric swatches with different textures to the bottom of desks or tables for some of my students. Maybe he could do some heavy gross skills motor work? https://funandfunction.com

Amazing young lady.