YouTube Space Lab helps students design science experiment in space

YouTube Space Lab helps students design science experiment in space | Ubergizmo window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '139683546053659', status : true, // check login status cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session xfbml : true // parse XFBML }); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); Network:Ubergizmo English, French, SpanishUberphones Subscribe to RSS Ubergizmo ReviewsMobileGamingAndroidAppleComputersGadgetsConceptsPhoto/VideoEvents |  Jobs Home > Gadgets > YouTube Space Lab helps students design science experiment in space YouTube Space Lab helps students design science experiment in space Edwin Kee 10/10/2011 15:14 PDT

Video content site YouTube as well as computer company Lenovo have come together to roll out a worldwide initiative that targets 14 to 18 year-old high school students, gaining the assistance of space agencies NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in the process to roll out the YouTube Space Lab, an initiative that enables students to design a science experiment which astronauts will then perform in space. Hmmm, space monkeys pulling tricks now?

A couple of experiments will have the privileged of being performed from space as well as live-streamed on YouTube, so make sure what you have in mind is good enough to impress the panel of venerable judges who include Stephen Hawking, ESA astronaut Frank De Winne and Cirque du Soleil’s founder Guy Laliberté. Interested students are required to submit a 2-minute YouTube video describing their experiment, and when March 2012 rolls around, half a dozen finalists will head off to Washington DC in order to take part in a ZERO-G flight that simulates the experience of life in outer space.

With two winners selected from the crop, their experiments will then be conducted 250 miles above Earth.

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Matitizia edible pencil perfect for nervous students

Matitizia edible pencil perfect for nervous students | Ubergizmo window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '139683546053659', status : true, // check login status cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session xfbml : true // parse XFBML }); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); Network:Ubergizmo English, French, SpanishUberphones Subscribe to RSS Ubergizmo ReviewsMobileGamingAndroidAppleComputersGadgetsConceptsPhoto/VideoEvents |  Jobs Home > Green > Matitizia edible pencil perfect for nervous students Matitizia edible pencil perfect for nervous students Edwin Kee 10/10/2011 07:57 PDT

Anyone who has been a student before would definitely fall under one of two categories – those who chew on pencils, as well as those who don’t. It is one or the other, and there is no middle ground so to speak. Well, when it comes to school, parents have a huge say on what to purchase for their kids, including the kind of stationery, so why not get your little on the Matitizia the next time you go on a shopping spree? This is no ordinary pencil, but rather, it is an edible pencil that is made from (delicious, what other verb can be used to describe it?) licorice root.

The Matitizia edible pencil is the brainchild of Cecilia Felli, and it does not look as though it is going to be massed produced in any way. Either way, it is one of the more unique pieces of stationery that I’ve come across, although those little ones who have dentists as their parents might think twice about getting this.

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Literature and Imagination Magazines for Elementary Students

Do you want your child to know about literature and have a well developed imagination? These two magazines can help with that.

CRICKET

CRICKET children's magazine includes good writing & classic literature for kids, plus an essay contest or poetry contest

Find fantasy; folktales; poetry; articles on other countries, customs, and traditions; exciting true adventure stories; serialized longer selections; and science articles and experiments.

Librarians, teachers, and students love this magazine for its high-quality fiction and nonfiction. It features poetry, story, art, and photography contests. With its lively bug characters having adventures in the margins, explaining difficult words, and offering funny commentary on the text, it's creativity will spur readers to express themselves in new ways.

Features include: Magotu and the Leopard; Luku; The Drums Speak; The Eighteenth Camel; The Princess and the Golden Fish; Underwater Sunset; Chirping Champions; Poems from the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tse; Surprise Pets; The Dog of Pompeii; Mysteries of Measurements.

SPIDER

Spider children's magazine includes stories, poems, and articles on nature and the world that are carefully selected to encourage students to read on their own.

It is designed to fascinate children at the critical time when they start to read, think, and learn for themselves. Stories, poems, and nonfiction articles are carefully selected to encourage students to read on their own, drawn along by bright illustrations and detailed drawings by famous children's artists. The magazine also offers fun ways for young readers to practice critical thinking skills with riddles, puzzles, and other games.

Features include: Doodlebug & Dandelion; And Behind This Door...; Chocolate Max; Say Cheese, George!; George and the Cherry Tree; D.J.; The Seven Hills of Sweet; An Oyster Told His Mama; Dear Tooth Fairy; Spider's Corner; Ophelia's Last Word.

These magazines are great for schools because they are educational and informative.

Tanya Michalski is an affiliate of magazines

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High School Students Fail to Pass History and Literature - How Can You Help Your Kids Succeed?

Audiences are usually delighted when late night comedy hosts wander onto the street to ask passers by basic history questions. We think it is hysterical when people fail to answer "Who was buried in Grant's Tomb?" or "When was the War of 1812?" The laughter dies however, when one considers a 2008 report produced by Common Core, in which they surveyed a random sampling of 1,200 seventeen year olds across the country. The report revealed some disturbing facts.

Thirty-three percent of the students could not identify the document wherein Americans are guaranteed their freedom of speech. Forty-nine percent could not identify the political party attacked by McCarthyism. A whopping fifty-seven percent could not correctly place the American Civil War within the second half of the nineteenth century, while forty percent didn't know that WWI took place within the first half of the twentieth century. And that was only the beginning.

If, as the report declares, "the first mission of public schooling in a democratic society is to equip every young person for the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship," then our public school system seems to be failing.

So what's to do? Blame our teachers and schools? That's probably not fair. After all, America's schools are over crowed, under funded, and sadly hampered by scholastic standards that put creative and civic instruction on the proverbial back burner. Just today, I spoke with a local high school curriculum coordinator who bemoaned, "I have plenty of content, but no time to teach it." Hardly a surprise when US Department of Education data shows that "the amount of weekly instructional time devoted to history and social studies in grades one to six fell by 22 percent between 1988 and 2004. The amount of time devoted to "English and reading arts" increased substantially during these same years, but there is reason to believe that most or all of this additional time was spent on basic reading skills, not literature."

The Common Core report, which you may read at http://www.commoncore.org/_docs/CCreport_stillatrisk.pdf, did notice that a segment of students who consistently scored higher had a few important aspects of their lives in common. One, they had at least one college educated parent. Two, they were more likely to have read at least one literary book not assigned in school. Three, they were more likely to have visited a museum or attended a cultural event with their family and friends. In other words, parental and family involvement in the cultural and historical education of a child tends to raise that child's grade point average by one level, sometimes two. The report seems to confirm what many parents and teachers have known for years-the love of history and literature begins at home. Knowledge of our past is a gift we receive from our parents when they take the time to share their passions with us.

So what are parents to do if they have no college education? What if they have no money for museums and theatre? What if they work three jobs and only see their kids a few minutes a day? Luckily, quality of time is truly more important than quantity. If you know your kids are studying US History, rent and watch John Adams with them. Ask them what they think of a bunch of rebels deciding to start their own country. You don't need to test them; just expose them to your culture's history and literature and then talk with them about it. If you watch a film about South Africa, be sure to get out a map and let them know where the country is. If they are watching a movie about WWII, look for a timeline that tells them what came before and after. Kids are naturally curious, and parents can't afford to wait for schools to try and cram a lifetime of learning into one semester. If you don't have the time, knowledge, or money, look for a mentor who does. Your community and your kids will thank you for it.

I personally would like to see Historybuster Clubs sprout up across America. What is a Historybuster Club? Designed by a history teacher, Historybusters provides parents with the tools they need to hook their kids on history early, encouraging active learning as well as parental and community involvement in the education of our children.

To find out how Historybusters can help you inspire your kids, visit http://www.navigatinglife.org/historybusters.

I personally would like to see Historybuster Clubs sprout up across America. What is a Historybuster Club? Designed by a history teacher, Historybusters provides parents with the tools they need to hook their kids on history early, encouraging active learning as well as parental and community involvement in the education of our children. To find out how Historybusters can help you inspire your kids, visit http://www.navigatinglife.org/historybusters

Lynn Marie Sager

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Piano Stories - How Literature Helps Piano Students Become Successful Musicians

Do you remember the very first stories you learned as a young child? I bet you do. And most likely you learned them from your parents and caregivers who used song as a way to comfort, teach and entertain you. Yep! All those nursery songs about the alphabet, numbers, and eeeentsy-weeentsy spiders were using music to prepare your brain for speech. So forget all that left brain nonsense our parents were taught about music. When grandma was playing the piano, she was enjoying the interplay of both left and right brain activity. This is why learning to play the piano is so beneficial to children. It stimulates neural development, using all five of the basic creative skills. They include Seeing (or Visualization), Observing, Forming Analogies, Inverting, and Simplification. These are the same creative applications found in literature, art and science.

Just as musical stories helped your child establish a foundation of creative skills for language and math concepts, the reverse is also true. Literature, art, and science can help your child achieve their musical dreams! Below are examples of how this happens in piano.

Visualization - "What would it look like if you could do it?

Visualization is probably the most difficult creative skill to develop. Having a keyboard in the imagination, however, gives a powerful boost to piano students' playing and note reading ability. So it's worth it for students to spend time developing this creative skill. Here's an example of how young piano students can start to do this. The piano has groups of two and three-black keys. There are three white keys around each group of two black keys. Ask your child in piano to close their eyes and pretend to draw two very large black keys in the air. Then while their eyes are still closed ask: "Can you see the white key of the left of the two-black keys? It's a C. Can you see the one on the right? It's an E. Can you see the one in the middle? It's a D." Keep this up throughout piano lesson sand soon your child will be able to visualize music, scales and chords, as well as hear them! Use visualization whenever your child is frustrated with learning something new in piano. Just ask, "What would it look like if you could do it?" This gets kids using their imagination and seeing possible solutions through their mind's eye, just as stories do.

Observation - "Eureka! I never noticed that before!"

Observation is about carefully noticing the little things to find similarities and differences. For example, what's the difference between staccato and legato notes, or an accent mark and a tenuto mark. Hey, is that a triplet or three eighth notes? Wow, this creative skill sure is important in playing piano! Students use this skill in learning piano when they ask? "How are these notes the same? How are they different?" Piano students use this creative process just as scientists do to find surprises in nature that were always there, waiting to be discovered. Remind your child in piano to use observation to overcome challenges in the music. You'll enjoy hearing them say things like, "Eureka! I never noticed that before!"

Analogies - How to Gain Perspective/ Change Perspective?

Analogies are used to gain or change our perspective. Here are some examples of how analogies help piano students. To play legato, pretend your fingers are an eeeentsy-weeensty spider. Curve the spider's legs and walk your fingers on the piano keys. To play staccato notes, imagine the piano keys are hot! To show your child how analogies can change our perspective, and teach us new concepts, try this: Sing the words to the song Amazing Grace to the tune from the television show, Gilligan's Island. Go ahead. Sing it now. "I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see." I bet that made you laugh :o)

Inverting - What would that look like if I turned it upside down?

Inverting also affects perspective by turning things upside down, or by taking things to extremes. Einstein did this when he obsessed over a beam of light and invented the theory of relativity. Einstein also loved music. Like his theory of relativity, many things we want to understand are counter-intuitive, including the piano techniques students need to play well. To tap into this creative function piano students can ask this question. "What would this look like if I turned it upside down?" Here's a creative suggestion you can give your child for polishing a recital piece using this skill. Play the music backwards! Start with last measure instead of the first. Then play the last two measures, then the last three, then the last four, etc., until you reach the first measure. Then play the song all the way through and see how much better you can do it. This is a great way for students to thoroughly learn a piece of music.

Simplifying - "I've seen that some place before?"

Simplifying is how we find creative solutions to difficult challenges by eliminating what is unnecessary. Ever try too hard? Here's a tip - Sometimes less is more. Before trying to re-invent the wheel, look back through the history books to see where this problem has been solved before by someone else, or yourself. Piano students can do this by asking, "Where have I seen this in music before?" "How did I play it then?" "What strategy can I follow to break this down and make it easier?" "What playing strategies has my piano teacher told me that I could apply here?" Or students can read a book to find out what other pianists have done.

So there you have it, piano parents. Five creative reasons to use literature, as well as art, science, and history to help your musical child achieve their piano dreams.

To learn the best way to share the gift of music with children visit Amazon.com for my Piano Bears Musical Stories for Children The exciting Piano Bears Musical Stories for children ages 5 to 11 feature the loveable characters, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Children love following along with Albeart to Mrs. Treble Beary's piano studio in Musical Acres Forest. Here they learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand and appreciate! Piano students laugh and giggle while reading "Little Bear's Musical Garden" and "Little Bear's Piano Goals."

For a wealth of f'ree information and piano music online visit Piano Bears Music Education Resources Don't Wait to Share the Gift of Music!

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Students Further Their Knowledge Of Literature By Forming Book Clubs

Some college students are amazed at how much they enjoy an English literature course. It can be an exhilarating and rewarding subject. Literature is essential because it educates the imagination. It also allows the reader to intellectually navigate into an entirely different direction and experience a whole new way of thinking. An effective way to explore literature is by participating in a book club.

Every student is unique. Each student participates and experiences an activity in a dissimilar way; this includes reading. The experience one student has when reading a story, poem, or play will not be the same as another classmate. That is what makes discussing literature so fascinating. There will be a variety of interpretations, viewpoints, and analysis.

A book club, or literature group, is the formation of a small group of students who read literature independently but gather together to exchange insights, interpretations, and questions about literature. The members might discuss a selection and work towards understanding it collectively. Or, the group may choose to read different literary works and unite to compare themes, writing styles, or authors. The group chooses how to utilize its discussion time. The following guidelines can help you coordinate a book club for you and your peers.

When you have selected your membership, encourage the members to keep a reader's journal before the first meet. The journal can help the reader get the most out of his or her reading experience. The log should include the title and author of the literary work you are reading. After reading select chapters, the reader can write a brief commentary as well as questions he or she may want to share with the group.

Stress the importance of being prepared by reading the assignment in its entirety. Instruct readers to mark passages that they do not comprehend or places in the reading that they want to discuss with the group. This can be passages that they find especially worth remembering and want to expound on. Or, it might be text that they don't agree with at all and would like another member's viewpoint.

In your role as the leader, your job would be to help keep the group on track and focused. You can model expected interaction by starting the conversation. Speak clearly, loudly, and slowly. Make eye contact, and share your ideas. Ask questions to encourage others to talk, and listen politely and ask follow-up questions that help to clarify questions other people may have. Try not to disagree; however, if you do, disagree respectfully.

Before the session ends, solicit and try to carry out other member's suggestions for the group. Afterwards, as group leader, reflect on the outcome of the dialogue and communication exchange. Assess your contribution to the group. Objectively evaluate the overall success of the meeting; document ideas for improving the next encounter.

Book clubs are a great way to learn about literature. They provide an opportunity for students to discover new ideas and share personal insights about literary works and authors. Books clubs are also essential for helping students gain a deeper understanding of literature for academic purposes. They may even lead to a student pursuing a degree in English. You don't have to wait for your instructor to coordinate a book club; create one on your own! Students who are in college online can form virtual book clubs where they can discuss their readings in a chat room or via video.

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Why Bother With Literature? Students And Teachers And Writing In China

When I was teaching literature and writing courses at a private liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, members of the faculty were asked to prepare a statement justifying the existence of their major programs. Our vice-president at the time (there was an incredible turn-over in presidents and vice-presidents at that college) seemed to be serious about education* and directed the faculty to answer specific questions regarding the importance of what we were doing. Since I was the coordinator of the English program (a program situated in the Humanities Department which included literature, philosophy, religion, speech, film studies, and media communications), I provided answers which I felt underscored the importance of what we were doing.

I still feel that these are important issues for an English program, whether standing separately as an individual department in a large university or as a part of a humanities division in a small college. I have taught writing and literature in two private colleges, two community colleges, and one major university in the USA. Time has not, despite the current and fashionable interest in technology, eroded the importance of concentrating in writing, literature, and language studies. This belief, therefore, caused me to congratulate my students in at a level-two technological university in Anshan, China-- and in Ningbo, China, at a level-three technological university, which is associated with a level-one university in Hangzhou--for majoring in English and for taking literature courses. The reasons I have done so can be found in the answers to the questions put to me below. I have, where necessary, generalized the answers to include a scale that is more global.

A. When students finish an English Language and Literature program, they will be able to do what?

1. These students will be able to realize that literature, like any art, is not created in a vacuum but reflects the culture and times in which it was created. This will cause them not only to realize, but to show the importance of being able to communicate thoughts and ideas in a cogent form so that the authors' messages and feelings can be understood and appreciated for centuries.

2. These students will be able to write and to speak in a scholarly manner about important issues that not only exist today but have existed for centuries, from before the time of Homer to the present. They will be able to argue effectively because they will have learned how to back up opinion with research findings, which they have learned to, quote and document correctly. They will have learned how to communicate clearly and effectively so that their own ideas do not become lost or ignored.

3. These students will be able to conduct research in many fields because they have learned the correct methods of researching, documenting, and incorporating findings in research papers. Those who have studied creative writing will also be able to create their own literature; this is daring and important because it involves digging deeply into themselves and fashioning into art something that did not exist before.

B. Why should students study with you as a professor?

1. Students should study with me as a professor only if they have a thirst for knowledge and an interest in expanding their horizons, which is what education is supposed to be about.

2. Students should not be caught up in the appearance of learning, trapped only in the superficial rhetoric but should, instead, be aware of the hard work that is needed to take charge of, and take responsibility for, their own education. They should be aware of the fact that education is about life-long learning and life-skills, that it is more than mere job training and that it is not finite.

3. If students study writing with me, they should be willing to face the possibility that writing and publishing is a difficult, painful process, and that creative writing requires digging into the pain and suffering of our memories because that is usually the source of the energy required to be creative. It is an uncomfortable but necessary part of the creative process, and this takes not only honesty but also great courage.

C. Why should students study in an English Language and Literature Program? [or Department of Foreign Languages]

1. Students should study in an English Language and Literature Program because it is essential, particularly in areas of the world where writing skills are reportedly the weakest, that they be able to communicate clearly, correctly, and effectively on the level of intelligent university students and, eventually, the level of university graduates who are able to compete with graduates from universities worldwide. They would become aware of the world-wide importance of the language or vocabulary with which they communicate.

2. They should study literature as well as language in order to realize that literature reflects the times, mores, and philosophies of the authors -- that its subject can be as varied as the multiple points of everyday life, with which it is connected, not as talk show topics between covers but as serious analysis of human endeavors and foibles.

3. They would recognize and appreciate the extent of the contributions of literary figures such as William Shakespeare who utilized or created words with a genius unknown before or since his time, whose vocabulary was the largest of any known English writer, and whose First Folio of his plays gave to all speakers of English more new words than any other single source**. With this recognition and appreciation they would, hopefully, build a bridge between the past and the future so that the monumental achievements of the past are not lost in the glitz and glitter of a technology that remains in the service of a transitory, materialistic world but are maintained as a foundation for a future rich with aesthetic and intellectual possibilities.

"Among the most important developments in contemporary global culture is the arrival of Western literary criticism and literary theory in China." This statement is made by W. J. T. Mitchell in his preface to the Chinese edition of A HANDBOOK OF CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE, printed for China by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press - a text I am now using for seniors in Research Methods in Ningbo. He adds: "There is arguably no greater force in producing understanding between peoples than the transmission of literary traditions - the great heritage of narrative, lyric, and prose forms that give cultures their distinctive character." This is why, I believe, that more literature courses are needed in certain universities in China, not only one semester of British literature and one semester of American but two semesters of each. More important, students in all areas of studies should be exposed to world literature and mythology. When I taught literature in Anshan, I had to cram two semesters of information and small snippets from the primary literature into one semester. I complained about this, but to no avail. I tried to change textbooks but was not allowed to do so. This was when I was still naive enough to believe that students were attending the university to receive an education. Many students here in Ningbo have referred to me as a serious professor. Since I often make jokes in class, I assumed that they were not referring to a lack of sense of humor. You see, I had taken it for granted that all professors, foreign or domestic (Chinese), were serious about educating in the classroom. Boy, was I naive.

When I was an undergraduate back in a small college in Illinois (my home state or, as I like to call it, God's Country), I heard our instructor state that a college diploma should be handed out with a birth certificate. I never forgot his remark. What I would like to recommend today, therefore, is that those universities on both sides of the Pacific who are more concerned with maximizing profits than they are with providing a real education -- who intimidate professors who try to maintain intellectual standards --to take this simple step: eliminate all course work for students, charge the students and/or their beleaguered parents tuition for the equivalent of four years tuition, and hand to them the diploma. No pretenses. No false claims. Then those universities sincerely interested in educating students with real standards can hire the best professors and recruit only the serious students who really. . . really. . . really want to learn for the sake of knowledge. Then knowledge. . . not only virtue. . . becomes its own reward.

So much of literature, and so much of life, is based on the foundations of world mythology and the greatest literature that the geniuses of the mighty word have produced. This is what it means to be educated for the sake of being educated, not just trained for employment. Once we accept this, we might get back to what education and the teaching of literature is really supposed to be about.

We can then get serious.

* This "serious" vice-president later allowed students who had failed courses (one male had failed four courses in our English department and one female had failed two of mine alone) to walk across the graduation stage because, as he admitted to the faculty the next day in a meeting, he was intimidated by their parents.

**[See THE STORY OF ENGLISH: 3rd Revised Edition by

Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil

New York: Penguin Book, 2002]

Charles J. Garard is a PhD in literature and film now living in Ningbo, China, where he teaches literature and writing. He taught for 17 years at a small liberal arts college in Atlanta and for two years at a university in Anshan, China. He writes about films (for EzineArticle.com and for Amazon.com) and mythology (such as his recent article about creatures in Indonesia published in a paranormal magazine) and works on his novels about time-travel, vampires, and mainstream topics. He is now working on a fictionalization of his teaching experiences in China.

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Teaching About the Election to Elementary Students Using Literature and Technology

Teaching about the election can be an interesting process. Of course the best way is to hold a mock election, or even better, a school election with children running for various offices. As with all curricular areas, experiencing the learning by participation cements the concepts.

Other ideas for teaching about the election include:

For Kindergarten and Grade 1

Read a book about an election and discuss the elements of election. Books I choose to use are "Duck for President" by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin (2004) and "My Teacher for President" by Kay Winters and Denise Brunkus (2008.)

After discussing the election process we make campaign posters. Students use a drawing program on the computer (I use KidPix) and type "Vote for ______" in huge letters. They add decorations to complete the poster. We print in color and staple to construction paper. Hanging this campaign poster on their bedroom doors will remind them of what they learned about the election.

For Grades 2 and 3

I read an election book such as "Pete for President" by Daisy Alberto (2004). We discuss election procedures but also emphasize telling the truth during the election process. During the story there is a page where there is a debate. I stop the story, have two kids join me up front, and simulate a debate. Sometimes I even tell one of the students to make outlandish claims about what he or she would do if they were to win. We finish reading the book and then discuss ways that students can improve the school.

The second graders make campaign posters just like the younger students but they add four ways they can make the school/world a better place. Examples might be: Eliminate bullies from the playground, Pick up Litter on the Playground, Be Nice to All People, Help Raise Money for New Library Books, etc.

In Grades 3 through 5

As the children get older I begin to teach about the electoral college. The best book I've found for this is "Grace for President" by Kelly Dipucchio and Leuyen Pham (2008.) After reading this story I send the students to explore an online simulation game at the Scholastic News website.

Grade 6: By the time students are in grade 6 they are ready to explore the issues of the candidates. To do this I ask the students to choose six issues to research on the websites of the candidates. The information that they gather can be presented in any manner; for instance, a 2-column display comparing the issues or using an organizing software such as Inspiration to create a web of information.

Overall, the more concrete examples you can give to students about the election will assist them in learning about the process that we embrace within our country.

For more information, samples, and a list of websites, download a free packet of Election materials at http://technologylessonsforteachers.com

Kathy Cothran is an elementary media specialist committed to helping teachers turn toys into learning tools. Her vast teaching experience ranges from preschool through Master's level education classes.

For years Kathy has been a "Gadget Girl." She loves technology! Tie that to her extensive teaching background and she has been able to interest, invigorate, and inspire children and teachers to use technology in a rich, exciting manner.

Interested in ways that toys can become learning tools? Visit http://turningtoysintotools.com

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Literature Reviews For Technical Students

Need to write a literature review? Do you have any problems on how to start writing one properly and effectively? How are you going to recognize and write one? As the name implies, examine materials previously done in a field of study, evaluating them in relation to a research that you are proposing. It's an activity you are likely to come across both in the academe and research fields, along with some specialized industries.

Goals of a Literature Review

Most of this kind of writing will take on one or more of these goals:

To provide a justification for your study.
To identify gaps among the existing materials in the field, particularly ones that your research can fill.
To demonstrate scholarly ability by identifying relevant studies and outlining existing knowledge.
To evaluate existing information in the field.
To synthesize existing information in line with the concepts you have set in your research.

When To Do Literature Reviews

Some people do informal way of writing literature reviews before tackling a research in depth. This allows them to set a clearer context for the study, as well as define its actual relevance to the field. Doing so can help you refine your research topic, establishing a concrete perspective from which you can proceed.

In some situations, though, you will be asked to write a formal literature review as part of your course requirements or to justify a research proposal. In those situations or either of those situations, it will be in your best interest to crack open an academic writing software or manual to help you produce one with proper content and format.

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Reading Literature in School - Make It Count for Students

Writing has been around since, quite literally, the precise beginning of history. When writing began, man began to record his thoughts, stories, and ideas. Since that time we have developed a much more sophisticated system for keeping our important thoughts in order, but the same object has always been the same.

It is because of this tradition that we generally associate the written word, and particularly the published word, with something important, and worth remembering and passing along. After all, if someone is going to go through all of the trouble of not only recording an idea, but physically reproducing it in the printed form, does it not mean that what he has recorded must carry some weight? Also, there is the implication that, once an idea has been published, it has been reviewed by any number of people, and found time and again to be consequential.

For that reason, then it only makes sense that once of the most basic subjects taught in schools today is "English" or "Literature." It only stands to reason that, when we gather in an academics setting to share ideas and to learn, that we spend time familiarizing ourselves with out literary tradition. But is that really a good idea? Is studying literature productive?

You could certainly make the argument that it is. After all, a society's literary output is a manifestation of its deepest yearning and most fundamental motivations. When you learn about a country's works of literature, you learn what sort of things make the country tick, and what kinds of forces have shaped the growth of that country for perhaps millennia.

When you take the time to explore the literary tradition of a culture, you have more insight into it government, its families, its wars, and its triumphs than you ever could have done without the benefit of those books. Certainly, when you learn about your own country, and your own people through their literature you can learn a great deal about yourself and everyone around you. So why would anyone ever argue against teaching Literature courses in school?

Well, there is a downside. Very often when we present these ideas to students, we do so too soon, or without their consent or interest. The study of literature and the simple reading of books is a fantastically interesting exercise for the eager mind, but a terrifically dull one for the reluctant mind. What is worse is that often, when students are made to read books for classes when they have no time or desire for it, they end up despising that reading, and would prefer not to read any more at all. Who knows what might have happened had that student been given a chance to come around to reading on his own, when he was in the best position to benefit from it?

All too often in education we force things on the youth in our society on the assumption that it is for their own good. While that may certainly be true in some situations, it is something to be very careful about when it comes to reading. Too frequently, teenagers and student will say they 'hate reading' because all they have ever known about books is that people can make you read them when you'd rather be doing something else.

If this is what the study of literature has degenerated into, then who is really benefiting? School is inevitably a place where people will be forced to do things they may not enjoy, but reading is supposed to be enjoyable. Perhaps the way we teach literature deserves to be reconsidered.

Ingrid Jackson's favorite subjects for writing her articles are education, schooling, and test preparation. She wants students to find the best ISEE prep out there. She also likes to write about her other interests from time to time, which are quite varied.

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Preparatory Crash Course in Literature for High School Students in the Philippines

In the Philippines today the length of Primary and Secondary schools is being debated whether to add another two more years in the usual six years primary and four years secondary, making secondary also six years for a total of twelve years in preparation to college education. School principals and teachers alike are divided. Paying parents in the privates schools are resistant while even non-paying parents in the public schools raise their brows on the plan of the government. Many sectors question the program for that would mean paying more and staying longer in school. Parents want their kids to finish school right away so that their children can help them alleviate their poverty. So what's the use of adding years in the 100-year long educational system when Filipino graduates all over the world are competitive. Below is a proposal based from a study the writer conducted on the Language and Literature program of Famy National High School Laguna, Philippines on the possible solution to help the lack of students preparation and exposure to Literature before they go to tertiary or higher education sans the issue of adding number of years in the secondary school.

A. RATIONALE:

After scanning the environment of the students, teachers and the materials available in Famy National High School in Laguna Philippines they both used when they had the English 4, the proponent saw the needs to prepare the fresh graduates from the Famy National High School by giving a preparatory crash course program in Literature to prepare them for the demands and rigors of college Literature courses.

The fourth-year high school students did not have enough exposure in learning Literature because the book they used entitled Moving Ahead in English published in 1999 which was framed on integrative approach hence, mastery of the four macro skills was emphasized throughout the year. The lessons they had in Literature was a mixed of World Literature, Asian Literature and Philippine Literature given after each lesson. Their exposure on Literature was not based on a solid foundation because the focus was more on language and not on Literature. Out of seven lessons, one was only given to Literature with questions focusing on the moral or didactic lessons. The students themselves looked at Literature as springboard lessons to language lessons without value for it as an art form.

The two teachers themselves assigned in teaching the fourth year were passionate teachers teaching the language lessons but they become less energetic when they reach the Literature lessons because students did not read. One teacher was BSE major in English graduate from Union College of Sta. Cruz, Laguna and the other was unit earner in Education with a Bachelor's degree in Accountancy. Both seldom attend seminars on the recent trends and issues in teaching Literature because of the scarcity of financial support from the school. Hence, their knowledge and strategies were based from their old undergraduate schema.

With these problems, the proponent indeed saw the needs of preparing the students through a crash course program in Literature with the following reasons:

1. inform students about the basics of Literature they never had in high school; 2. discuss literature, not as a springboard of language lessons, but as it is as an art; 3. prepare students to the demands of Literature courses in College and 4. immerse students on the recent trends, strategies and issues in learning Literature.

B. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAM: The crash course program in Literature primarily aims to prepare the incoming freshmen to College Literature courses that they never learned or encountered much in high school, not because they were not taught, but because the approach then was integrative of the four macro skills and Literature was used as springboard to language lessons. The crash course discusses the basics of Literature from concepts, theories, use of strategies, trends and issues in learning literature applied altogether in teaching the students. The program is only a crash course to be delivered in 45 hours with 3 hours per lesson. The fifteen-day sessions either in MWF (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) or TThS (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) schedules are devoted to classroom discussion and other recent activities that culminate in a variety show of poetry recitation, dramatization and choral recitation, activities which are also performed in college. It is in MWF or TThS schedule to give students time to read and accomplish their assignments on the lessons before coming to class.

C. PROPONENT OF THE PROGRAM The proponent of the program is Wilfredo M. Valois who is a current student in Doctor of Philosophy major in Literature at the Philippine Normal University, Manila. He has been teaching Literature subjects at the Royal and Pontifical University of Sto. Tomas (UST), Manila for twelve (12) years. He has taught subjects like Philippine Literature in English, Introduction to Literature and Classical World Literature.

D. FRAMEWORK OF THE PROGRAM With the advent of technology specifically the television, radio and internet, people have become less receptive to what is going on around them, rather, they become more dependent on what they watch, they see and what they hear rather than what they read. People's vision is blurred by the comfort what technology gives them hence forgetting the value of reading, the value of Literature. In the academe, with the focus on the communicative competence and other ever-changing approaches and theories, the teaching and learning of Literature is often dwarfed, minimized or even abandoned by many schools.

Carolina Garcia and Ophelia Diamante reminded readers that Literature must inform and entertain. A good literature must be able to awaken people from ignorance to enlightenment. Furthermore, they said that literature must have intellectual value, emotional value, spiritual value, universality, permanence, style and most of all artistry.

Similarly, Edilberto Tiempo says that literature or good literature is intended to move, it must seduce but a work's emotive quality must not assault the sensibility, it must be ungirded by reasonableness, by logic, it must complement and satisfy the intellect, it must have the inevitability.

The criteria on how the literary selections in this crash course program on Literature were based from Jose Garcia Villa's criteria as cited by Edilberto K. Tiempo's suggestions on what should be included in any anthology of Literature. They are substance and form. Jose Garcia villa said that he followed double standard of form and substance. Substance requires vitality of subject and significant selection of facts. Genuine substance is achieved only when a pulse beats through the correlated facts, for significant substance alone, if without beat of life, remain dead substance. To achieve validity, therefore, substance in fiction should be living as well as significant. The second test is form. It requires vigor of structure although form and substance in literature are a creative one and they are indivisible, still they are distinct. Thus making feasible this test of form. Form, in literature, is the adequate and beautiful externalization of substance. It is not restrictive, mold, but is free, yet artistically disciplined presentation of substance.

Literature liberates the mind and spirit as one reads through the pages. The experience one has in looking at a painting, listening to a classical music or a moving performance in a theatre is similar to the reading of a literary text. It moves the mind to think critically. It touches the heart with that emotive power when one reads poetry or reads a play. All these effects and more are experienced by readers or learners including the enthusiasts when they are arrested by powerful literary texts with beautiful form and substance.

Literature is an instrument to fight illiteracy. People have become dependent on moving pictures and flashed items that they tend to read less. People have become lazy readers if not none readers at all, hence elevating our status of illiteracy. Thanks to the government's effort in putting Alternative Learning System or ALS in various municipalities and barangays where teachers educate the illiterates. But the efforts are geared towards economic and not artistic. Hence, the debate on the conflict between "art for art's sake" (autonomy of the art) and "art for social awareness" (proletariat literature) is once again high. The crash course provides an answer to this debate as it hinges on bridging the gap and conflict between the autonomy of art and social awakening by giving students the artistic literary texts that will give them at the same time an awakening along the way in the study of literatures.

The program is designed to meet the needs set by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to give at least six units of Literature courses across discipline in the general education. Namely, the two courses are Introduction to World Literatures and Regional Philippines Literatures. That when they proceed to college education, incoming freshmen will be more than ready to face the demands of the Literature courses without insecurity and ignorance due to lack of exposure and education in literatures.

E. OBJECTIVES: At the end of the crash course, incoming freshmen are expected to: 1. Define the meaning of literature; 2. Differentiate fiction and non-fiction; 3. Enumerate the five genres of literature; 4. Compare and contrast the features of narrative and poetry; 5. Draw or diagram the structure of a narrative plot; 6. Read a poem with emotions according to its type; 7. Explain the figures of speech used in the texts; 8. Identify characters in the short story, novel or drama; 9. Describe the setting in the short story, novel or drama; 10. Arrange logical sequence of plot in the short story, novel or drama; 11. Synthesize themes from the texts; 12. Trace the causes and effects of actions of characters in the texts; 13. Appreciate the text the culture of a country; 14. Identify an author and his/her work; 15. Analyze a text using different approaches in understanding literature; 16. Write a critique on the assigned literary text; 17. Recite effectively and individually a poem; 18. Dramatize effectively scenes from the text; 19. Mount a variety show highlighting poetry recitation, dramatization and choral recitation.

F. COURSE CONTENT: The crash course includes excerpts from Literature courses that Commission on Higher Education CHED has mandated what each college student should take across discipline. Namely they are:

LITERATURE 1: Regional Philippine Literatures

This course presents a survey of world literatures representing a gamut of human experiences as exemplified in different literary types and forms.

LITERATURE 2: Introduction to World Literatures

This course introduces students to representative literatures from the regions tackling the wide array of Filipino encounters and experiences as these are expressed through themes such as gender, racial identity, class and history

G. MATRIX OF COMPETENCIES/OBJECTIVES AND THEIR CORRESPONDING LESSONS:

Competencies/Objectives Lessons

1. Define the meaning of literature; Lesson on Introduction to Literature 2. Differentiate fiction and non-fiction; Lesson on Introduction to Literature 3. Enumerate the five genres of literature; Lesson on introduction to Literature 4. Compare and contrast the features of narrative and poetry; Lesson on Introduction to Literature 5. Draw or diagram the structure of a narrative plot; Lesson on Introduction to Literature 6. Read a poem with emotions according to its type; Lesson on Poetry 7. Explain the figures of speech used in the texts; Lesson on Poetry 8. Identify characters in the short story, novel or drama; Lesson in Fiction 9. Describe the setting in the short story, novel or drama; Lesson in Fiction 10. Arrange logical sequence of plot in the short story, novel or drama; Lesson in Fiction 11. Synthesize themes from the texts; All lessons 12. Trace the causes and effects of actions of characters in the texts; All lessons 13. Appreciate the text the culture of a country; All lessons 14. Identify an author and his/her work; All lessons 15. Analyze a text using different approaches in understanding literature;

All lessons 16. Write a critique on the assigned literary text lessons in poetry, short story, novel, drama and essay 17. Recite affectively and individually a poem; Lesson on Poetry 18. Dramatize effectively scenes from the text; Lesson on Fiction 19. Mount a variety show highlighting poetry recitation, dramatization and choral recitation. All lessons

H. SYLLABUS ON THE CRASH COURSE PROGRAM IN LITERATURE

Content/ Topics Teaching/Learning Activities Time Allotment 1. An Overview on Literature a. Definition b. Reasons why we study literature

Group work brainstorming Discussion Timeline

3 hours

2. Kinds of Literature a. Fiction and non-fiction b. According to countries c. According to classification Library research Buzz group discussion Jigsaw puzzle Diagramming

3 hours

3. Seven (7) standards of good Literature a. Samples for each exemplifying each standard

Pair work Collage Poster-making 3 hours

4. Genres of Literatures a. Poetry b. Short story c. Novel d. Drama e. essay Popcorn discussion Diagramming Thought bubbles 3 hours

5. Poetry a. Nature and types b. Elements c. Figures of speech Lecture Chanting Diagramming 3 hours

6. Reading and analyzing of samples of poetry a. "God Said I made a Man" by Jose Garcia Villa b. "The Man of Earth" by Amador T. Daguio c. "Si Lola Isyang at ang Matandang Puno ng Kaimito" d. "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost e. "I am Nobody" by Emily Dickenson f. A sonnet by William Shakespeare g. "Psalm 23" by King David Discussion Reading of the text Chanting of the text Unlocking vocabulary Role playing Pair work Synthesizing through slogan Write a critique paper 3 hours

7. Short Story a. Nature and types b. Elements Discussion Diagramming Library research 2 hours

8. Reading and discussing/ analyzing of samples: a. "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" by Manuel Arguilla b. "Harvest" by Loreto Paras Sulit c. "Footnote to Youth" by Jose Garcia Villa d. "The Lady and the Tiger" Anonymous e. "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry f. "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant Literary map Thought bubbles Comics strip Movie poster Radio drama Skit Role playing Tableaux Discussion Write a critique paper

4 hours

9. Novel a. Nature and types b. Elements Discussion diagramming 2 hours

10. Reading and discussing/analyzing of samples: a. An excerpt from America is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan b. The Pearl by John Steinbeck Literary map Thought bubbles Comics strip Movie poster Radio drama Skit Role playing Tableaux Discussion Write a critique paper

4 hours

11. Drama a. Nature and types b. Elements Discussion Pair work Jigsaw puzzle 2 hours

12. Reading and discussing/analyzing of samples: a. "The World is an Apple" by Alberto Florentino b. "New Yorker in Tondo" by Marcelino Angana Thought bubbles Comics strip Movie poster Radio drama Skit Role playing Write a critique paper Tableaux Discussion

4 hours 13. Essay a. Nature and types b. Elements Discussion Diagramming 2 hours

14. Reading and discussing and analyzing of samples: a. "Heritage of Smallness" (an excerpt) by Nick Joaquin b. "On Having a Stomach" by Lin Yutang c. "Of Studies" by Francis Bacon Mock debate Pair work Buzz group discussion Slogan writing Discussion Write a critique paper 4 hours

15. Culminating Activity through a Variety Show of: a. Poetry recitation of "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening" b. Skit or Dramatization of "New Yorker in Tondo" c. Choral Recitation of "God Said I Made a Man" Variety show Poetry recitation Dramatization Choral recitation 3 hours

Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, Consevatory of Music, University of Sto. Tomas (UST), Manila, Philippines

PhD in Literature (in progress), Philippine Normal University (PNU), Manila, Philippines

Municipal Councilor, Famy, Laguna, Philippines

willy_valois@yahoo.com

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