Lessons and Ideas

In the classroom, inferencing is a valuable reading strategy. Inferencing happens when a reader combines clues from a text with information from their own background knowledge. From our inferences, we draw conclusions. For instance, a good reader infers the meaning of a word from context clues. Inferences happen frequently, and it isn’t limited to the classroom. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, better known as FEMA, makes inferences all the time about safety level and the extent of damage in natural disaster areas. They even use the Waffle House for data. The Wall Street Journal has reported on the "Waffle House…

[jwplayer file=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/media/presidential-election-process-media.mp4 image=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/images/presidential-election-process-image.jpg]  Check out the lyrics and more for our presidential election process video.  The debates are over, and election night is fast approaching. Here are some ideas for election night activities and lessons. 1. Fact-check the candidates It has long been accepted as fact that all politicians lie, but in the modern information age, it’s easier than ever to immediately call them on it and share the truth with the public. Politifact.com is a fact-checking website that does exactly that. A politician says something and within minutes fact-checkers are rating the truth of the statement. Show your students Barack…

    With just a couple weeks left till the elections, polls seem to be everywhere. There are daily polls like the Gallup poll, polls that focus on certain swing states, and even larger “polls of polls.” For the novices, all this data can be information overload. Here are a few activity ideas to help your students understand the basics of polls and become actively involved in the polling process. 1. Discuss students’ perception of polls Clarify what a poll is: a record of the opinion or vote of groups of people. For more information on how polls are conducted,…

...and even more coming very soon! [jwplayer file=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/media/active-passive-voice-media.mp4 image=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/images/active-passive-voice-image.jpg]  One of our new videos, The Grammar Detective. We're continuing to add videos to all of your favorite Flocabulary songs, which means new Addition and Subtraction videos, Grammar videos, and even more Word Up videos. This week we have seven new videos for you, and we'll be adding more all the time. These new videos are in vocabulary, language arts, and math. If you'd like to watch all of them, make sure to sign up for a free two-week trial to Flocabulary. New Videos Vocabulary 7th Grade Vocabulary: The Pony Gangsta Learn fifteen…

[jwplayer file=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/media/prepositions-media.mp4 image=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/images/prepositions-image.jpg]  A song like "Prepositions" can serve as quick study hall enrichment for ELL students.Whether your school calls it mastery period, academic achievement period, extra help, homeroom or simply study hall, this time during the school day is an opportunity for students to get extra practice in a subject they may not feel confident in. For teachers, this time can sometimes pose a challenge if, say, you are a math teacher assigned to review reading skills. Lucky for you, Flocabulary has you covered. Many of our songs, videos and lessons lend themselves well to mastery periods: they're easy…