CLS Teacher Support

  A s educators, you are at the forefront of shaping our children's minds and hearts, helping them make sense of this changing world and inspiring and preparing them for the opportunities.  At Youngzine, we believe our role is supporting you and helping you develop young people that will work towards a just and sustainable future. The journey to becoming a global citizen, who can "think globally, act locally" begins with awareness. Many educators have remarked that Youngzine is a great resource and a perfect complement to academic material. Relating to current events not only makes students more aware of what's going on but also helps them absorb concepts better.  Youngzine's news articles are  FREE  for all educators. The integrated "Classroom" portal gives you an option to have your students join Youngzine with a Classroom CODE, and allows you to create classroom assignments and foster discussions among students.  The ab...

  Signs of Childhood Trauma in Adults If you experienced trauma as a child , it's likely that you are or have experienced some amount of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) later in life. This article explains what trauma is, what childhood abuse may look like, and how childhood trauma impacts adulthood..... Signs of PTSD in Children After exposure to any traumatic event, kids tend to express some form of behavioral change. These behaviors are still regularly reported by mental health professionals in their daily practices with adults. These behavioral changes could include: 1 Sudden new fears:  These fears may or may not be related to the traumatic event. Separation anxiety : Occurs when a child becomes overwhelmed with anxiety if their parents are not around. Sleep disturbances :  This could mean that they start having nightmares or lose the ability to fall asleep quickly. Sadness:  If you notice that you or a loved one is feeling down much more often, it may be ...

  Can Natural Antidepressants Help With Depression? When used in conjunction with medication, these can make a difference If you’re feeling seriously depressed, you’re not alone. The Anxiety & Depression Association of America states that major depressive disorder (MDD) affects more than 16.1 million American adults and is more prevalent in women than in men. 1 Given traditional antidepressants sometimes have unwanted side effects, people are seeking natural forms of antidepressants to help them cope with depression. Supplements, natural remedies, and lifestyle changes can improve your depressive symptoms to an extent. But first, ask a medical professional to assess your depression. Only they can determine what route is best for you. You can then work together to combat your particular level of depression using the various tools available. For an approach that doesn’t rely on pharmaceuticals or psychotherapies, you might consider these options. Note: The above comes direct...

   Web Math Minute Welcome to the easiest math practice website on the Internet, where you can print math practice sheets and practice math online. What's a MATH MINUTE sheet? It's a sheet of paper with 50 math questions. The goal is to see how many answers a student can calculate in one minute. Why Paper? Some students are still required to write tests with pencils on paper in school, so this website can generate sheets you can print on your printer. You can also practice math minutes online if you prefer. Okay, what do we do? To begin, choose whether you want to Print Sheets on Paper, or Practice Online by clicking one of the buttons below. Note:  The above comes directly from their website.  Click here to learn more.

Incredibox Incredibox would make a great warm-up activity for a choir, band, or any sort of music appreciation class. Heck, it's so fun, any classroom could benefit from a few musical rounds. Kids can easily sing along or improvise to the simple tunes (very easy to harmonize with) that come from Incredibox combinations. Incredibox appears to be a totally fun place to play around, but it's teaching music and composition skills at the same time. Score! You may go crazy hearing your kids' somewhat repetitive songs, but they will love this beatboxing crew.   Note:  The above review comes directly from Common Sense website.  Click here to learn more

  Learn about effective prompt engineering, AI tools, and more. When it comes to using artificial intelligence at school, whether in the classroom or for more routine teacher tasks, some educators are all in, while others are fully opposed. And still others are probably curious about AI but aren't sure where to start. But one thing is pretty clear: AI isn't going away anytime soon, so ignoring it isn't really an option! (If you don't understand what AI is or how it works, our training course,  AI Foundations for Educators , is a great place to start.) Using AI successfully in a school setting brings challenges for both teachers and students. For example,  AI-based plagiarism  already may be a problem in your class or school. Or maybe you've toyed around with the technology but don't know what to try next, or you're not sure how to create prompts that get useful results.. And then there are all those AI tools to evaluate! No matter where you are on your AI jo...

Developed for use by middle school students in the classroom and beyond,  Mission US  is a deeply-researched, award-winning educational media project with proven positive impact on history learning. Mission US  is part of an expanding body of “serious games” that immerse users in historical and contemporary problems in ways that encourage perspective-taking, discussion, and weighing of multiple kinds of evidence. The missions are not simulations, nor truly games in the sense that there is no “winning” or “losing,” nor do users get a score or grade. The games are sophisticated interactive narratives grounded in historical scholarship, developed in collaboration with community stakeholders and scholars who are experts in the historical periods that are depicted. We also conduct formative testing with diverse students, and involve educators who help ensure that the material is developmentally and academically appropriate for children in the target age group, grades 5-8. Note...

RoomRecess.com is dedicated to providing children with free learning games that are fun. Our online games reinforce important skills that are vital to elementary students and their educational process.  RoomRecess.com was developed entirely by an elementary school teacher with the goal of reinforcing fundamental learning concepts in math, reading, spelling, language arts, typing, and problem solving. Because our learning games are free, students do not have to sign up or hold an account with us. Children can simply load up an activity and have fun learning online while they play! Note:  The above comes directly from their website.  Click here to learn more.

Constant Companion: A Week in the Life of a Young Person's Smartphone Use Smartphones have become a constant companion in our teens' lives. From connection with family and friends to entertainment and literal white noise, young people rely on their smartphones for different types of support, relaxation, and distraction—at home and at school, and during the day and night.    This new report fills a gap in understanding around how teens actually use their smartphones, combining data from kids' own phones with feedback from our Youth Advisory Council. Teens told us that the draw of their smartphone is both complicated and powerful. They're managing a barrage of notifications from the apps on their phones—buzzing almost constantly. Phone use in school is common, but policies are inconsistent. Smartphones both help and hurt their sleep, and apps like TikTok provide easy, effortless access to personalized content that provides both relaxation  and distraction.   The good ...

  https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/geography/usa/jigsaw/puzzle-3/

CryptoClub The CryptoClub Project develops classroom and web-based material to teach cryptography and related mathematics. The project began at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is now based at the University of Chicago’s Center for STEM Education. Eduweb develops award-winning digital learning games and interactives about art, history, science, and technology for museums, zoos, and other educational organizations. Note:  The above comes directly from their website.  Click here to learn more. https://www.cryptoclub.org/

CBC Kids CBC Kids News is news for kids, reported on by kids -- but don't let that fool you: These are real news stories on real topics going on in the world around us. The stories range from difficult subjects like war, mental health, and climate change to more lighthearted ones about pop culture and celebrations. The stories are written by kids and are accessibly designed but not oversimplified. The stories come in a variety of formats such as photos, Instagram-like stories, videos, and standard blog articles. The content focuses on many different topics, but the focus is on Canadian content (CBC is the Canadian Broadcast Corporation). Teachers could use this site to encourage their students to look for news stories to write about, analyze, and discuss. The stories on CBC Kids News could make great starting points for discussions or be jumping-off points for larger topics or research projects. The content is well vetted and from a reliable source.  The above comes from Common Sen...

Arkansas & Kansas Enact Protections for Faith-Based Adoption, Foster Care Arkansas and Kansas  enacted   laws  this week protecting families and faith-based adoption and foster care organizations, ensuring they aren’t punished for their religious or moral beliefs about human sexuality. Note:  The above comes directly from their website.  Click here to read more.

When You And Your Child Argue Over Social Media “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5 One night, when my daughter was 14, I dropped her off at a city park in downtown Chicago. It never occurred to me she could be in danger. The thought that someone would exploit her innocence, steal her childhood, or crush her soul never entered my mind. You see, my perception was that I was giving my girl a new iPhone. Her reality was much different: I dropped the depravity of every city corner into the palm of her hand. Note:  The above comes directly from their website.  Click here to read more.

  Head in the Clouds? There May Be Benefits to Keeping It There, Study Finds recep-bg/ iStock Mind-wandering tends to get a bad rap, especially in an educational context. A recent study, however, found that   letting your mind drift might not be harmful   when it comes to learning a new task — in fact, it may even be helpful. ​ Researchers in Hungary fitted  37 people with scalp electrodes to monitor their brain activity . Participants were then given an exercise that involved watching an arrow on a TV screen and hitting a key on a keyboard to indicate what direction it went in, per Australia’s ABC News. Throughout the activity, they were intermittently asked three questions about their attentiveness: if their mind had wandered, if they’d been thinking about anything at all, or if they had been focused on the task. ​ Using the data from the electrodes and the participant responses, the scientists determined if their attention had wandered and evaluated whether it aff...

                       The Psychology of Cuteness and Why We're Drawn to the Adorable Kittens, puppies, bunnies, sea otters, baby fur seals, hedgehogs. A round-cheeked baby or dapper-dressed toddler. Adorable  stuffed animals  or toys. Anything teeny-tiny, miniature, or that looks babyish, with wide eyes and chubby cheeks. Most of us find these things downright cute and endearing. They make us go, “Awwwwww!” and may even compel us to reach out to cuddle or squeeze them. 1 But have you ever asked yourself why that is? What is the psychology behind cuteness? And how does cuteness influence our feelings, behaviors, and social interactions? These are interesting (and fun!) questions, all of which we’ll explore here, along with expert input. Note:  The above comes directly from their website.  Click here to read more.

  ABOUT Welcome to  Kids Corner , where you can discover your place in God’s big story and learn how God is calling you to live out your Christian faith every day! Explore loads of fun, faith-building resources: Build up your faith with  Kids Corner  Devotions   which include a weekly Bible message, readings and prayer. Alongside the devotional,  Casey's Day   comics show what a Christian looks like each day through the eyes of three 10-year-olds. Follow the  Kids Corn er  Parent Blog  to build on what children are learning in the devotional each week. Watch  Kids in Action ,  live-action videos of kids just like you doing God's work right now! Check out  Kids Corner ’s Bible Stories Podcast , an immersive audio drama series that retells the greatest stories of the Bible! Check out the  God's Big Story  Bible Study  with animated videos, a  God's Big Story  comic book and a coloring book. Take the ...