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Grammar. It’s a part of English whether you love it or hate it (I’m a love it kind of girl! My grammar college courses were some of my favorites, and I LOVED diagramming sentences!) and we have so many opportunities to integrate daily grammar practice. When we read, there are grammar rules that dictate meaning. When we write, there are grammar mistakes that cause us to misunderstand or be misunderstood.  Tackling grammar in the upper elementary classroom can be overwhelming – there are so many standards and skills to cover! It’s also easy for grammar to take a back burner...

How to incorporate podcasting into your curriculum this school year School is almost back in session and educators are busy working on curriculum for the upcoming school year that will challenge students, improve their communication skills and provide a platform to express their thoughts and interests. If you haven’t created a podcasting unit before, there are plenty of platforms that will help you get started with low or no start-up costs. My son and I started The Middle School Mind podcast last fall as a way to give him a platform  to express his, sometimes random, 6th grade thoughts. We...

Ideas For Things to Do With Your Kids This Summer  The summer holidays are here! For some – especially kids – this represents weeks and weeks of fun and opportunity. For others – particularly working parents – it can become a battle to fill time without blowing budgets.  Six weeks is a long time, after all, so you’ll want to have some plans in place to help it to fly by. You might have built up your savings with the summer holidays in mind or you could need to keep costs down while everything’s getting more expensive. But there are...

The heat is on – again, as animated characters from all walks of toondom keep on their toes to avoid the ultimate in hotfoots. More action from the later 30’s, as the sirens continue to blare and the bells sound in alarm. Notably, we’ll continue to deal with the plight of the nearly obsolete fire horse, the subject of two different episodes – and also encounter two films capitalizing on a famous fire of old, recently exploited at the time by a high-grossing live-action feature. Also, we’ll get a bit controversial, with two cartoons whose subject matter is a bit...

The start of the school year may be just around the corner, but wouldn’t you rather spend your time celebrating the end of summer instead of getting ready for fall? That’s why we’ve pulled together 15 fantastic Labor Day events and family activities taking place over the long weekend. Here’s where to eke out a few more summer memories with your kids. Exciting Labor Day Weekend Activities in Seattle for Families Joan Marcus See Hamilton You know you want to be in the room where this happens. There's still time to catch the phenomenal traveling production of everyone's favorite Broadway...