Quadrant Spelling
Posted on Jan 19, 2010 - 08:00 PM by Tim Curley in ImprovEducation

In my last posting, I wrote about the day I taught my students about quadrant graphs. The fact that I did so while not talking, using only hand signals and finger pointing, is what I mentioned in the post. I neglected to mention why I chose to introduce the graphs.
From what I can tell, the California State Standards first mention quadrant graphs in seventh grade. I choose to teach them now, in fourth grade, not as a math component, but as part of my spelling program. Rather than posting the spelling words on a chart, or writing them in a composition book, or simply reading them from their workbook, I place them on a quadrant graph that is superimposed over a pocket chart. The result...
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The Worlds of Fractions and Spelling Collide
Posted on Feb 14, 2010 - 03:58 PM by Tim Curley in ImprovEducation
When Melia Dicker, IDEA's Communications Director, first asked me to become involved with this project, I thought, "Me?" Then she comes up with this "ImprovEducation" title, and I thought that maybe there could be something there for me to write about. The improvisational aspect of my teaching style comes naturally, and sometimes yields something pretty darn good.
I wrote on January 19 (
"Quadrant Spelling") about the way I deliver spelling words to my fourth-grade students, via a pocket chart in the form of an x,y quadrant graph. They all know about coordinates, points, rows and columns now, and participate with great enthusiasm.
We recently began adding fractions with uncommon...
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