We often hear from school and education leaders: What we really need help with is improving our teaching human capital… Our teachers need a lot of help to teach science and science inquiry, especially at the younger grades. At our
Providing Successful PD to your Teachers
Note that this post highlights one of VocabularySpellingCity’s sisters: Science4Us. It is an early elementary science program. Increasingly, principals and superintendents are asking us to help develop their teachers. We have always provided professional development to support our products but
Vocabulary Memory Match: Mix It UP!
The new Vocabulary Memory Match game from VocabularySpellingCity engages the students because it really mixes it up. It blends a classic simple gameplay with some complex concepts of what makes a match. It really makes them think. It is one
Silly Bulls, Penguins, and Roaches! Oh my! Halloween 2017 flew by!
#HappyHalloween2017 🎃👻 pic.twitter.com/ABCm2pDlmt — SpellingCity (@SpellingCity) October 31, 2017 Halloween is all about sweet treats and creative costumes. This year at VocabularySpellingCity, we challenged the team to get into the Halloween spirit by dressing up as a characters from our
Improving Reading Comprehension through Vocabulary Retention
Vocabulary is responsible for 70% of reading comprehension problems in elementary schools. And while the research is clear on what most students require to build vocabulary (12 spaced multimodal encounters with a word), many schools ignore the research and reading scores suffer.
Elementary Students: Owning the Learning
One of the brightest trends that I see in education today is a broad nationwide move to have students own their learning and to adopt a growth mindset. I’m particularly encouraged to see that this is a distinct trend in elementary schools. In
Students: Creating Lists, Owning Learning
Everyone would like it if students took more “ownership” of their learning. Students would like it, and so would parents and teachers. VocabularySpellingCity makes it easy to give students more accountability for their own learning. Once they’ve chosen a book
Our Journey to Vocabulary Matters
The lack of vocabulary accounted for 70% of reading comprehension problems in a group of 4th graders, according to the National Research Council. Is your elementary school satisfied with your students’ reading comprehension? Most elementary schools are not. I’m writing to
Hacks for Learning with VocabularySpellingCity
Here are some of the best learning hacks we’ve added to VocabularySpellingCity over the last few years. Enjoy, and may your students benefit. 1. Vocabulary and Writing. Students need both to build their vocabulary and to practice writing. A teacher in Davie,
The SAMR Model and VocabularySpellingCity
SAMR: A Model for Assessing How Technology Affects Education (which I think obscures the most important use of technology in education) Updated Summary: The SAMR Model provided one insight: there are new things to be done not just new ways of