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Many students came back from Thanksgiving break fresh from a long weekend with NO HOMEWORK! Phew…they got away with not thinking about math for the entire weekend…or did they? As they slide back into their school routine, you may want to discuss where math might have snuck into their Thanksgiving break. Were any of them helping in the kitchen? They were probably working with ratios, proportions, and multiplication without even knowing it. Were they fighting over the last pieces of pumpkin pie? It was the study of fractions at work! Bringing these instances of “real-world” math to students’ attention can help them realize the prevalence of math in their everyday lives (and the importance of math when creating a tasty meal).

Students sometimes wonder when they’ll use certain information that they learn in school. They may not reap immediate benefits from reading Herman Melville or learning the laws of stoichiometry, but they usually take the teachers at their word that such knowledge is never wasted – it’s all part of the process of becoming educated citizens. In math, however, the benefits of learning ratio and proportion are instantly recognizable. People use ratios every day in all sorts of situations, and are often even unaware that they’re doing so. Ratio and proportion are so prevalent in daily life that their use has become reflexive.

Throughout the changes in education over the years, one goal has remained constant: children must learn to read. It’s a crucial skill for success in every other subject and ultimately, success in life. There is such a focus on the best methods for teaching kids to read; the importance of encouraging the love of reading is often blurred. Students might learn to successfully decode words and read, but they won’t make a habit of reading for pleasure unless they enjoy it.

In 2007, a report on the state of reading in the U.S. was published by the National Endowment for the Arts. The study found that, not only were Americans reading less, but that reading comprehension skills were also steadily eroding. The findings for students were also troubling: more than 50% of college students engaged in little or no pleasure reading, and less than a third of 13 year-olds read daily. The report concluded that the decline in reading was likely to result in grave economic, social, cultural, and civic consequences.

Half the class will don funny hats and call themselves pilgrims. Another group will wear feathers in their hair and brown paper-bag vests to be “Indians.” One unlucky soul will portray the ill-fated turkey in this yearly reenactment of the First Thanksgiving in primary classrooms across the US. This type of role-playing simplifies the relationship between these English colonists and the Wampanoag People. This type of play teaches young students good lessons about perseverance and cooperation, but often glosses over the challenges and sacrifices that are part of the history of the First Thanksgiving.

It’s November, and the store circulars and holiday flyers are full of familiar Thanksgiving-themed images. Happy plump Pilgrims, holding a variety of foodstuffs ranging from roast turkey to pumpkins to ears of corn, stand alongside pink-cheeked Native Americans, ready to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in the bountiful New World. The reality, of course, was much different.

The study of plants and gardening is a fun, dirty, hands-on way for students to learn conservation, biology, ecology, and responsibility. With the right soil, water, and sunlight, seeds will sprout into plants every time. Students can watch these sprouts grow into plants that are important for human survival. Even unsuccessful class gardening attempts will teach important lessons about what every plant needs to survive and the responsibility required to cultivate plants. During a study of gardening, students are often asked to keep detailed field journals of their activities. These careful observations will allow students to discover how plants effectively recycle and re-use their resources, an important ecology lesson.

Last June, during the final weeks of school, some local classrooms made field trips to a nearby zoo and horticultural center to see a particular flower. The students were puzzled: Why take a field trip to see a single flower? Needless to say, the kids were not chuffed. The teachers explained that they were to witness a rare event: the flowering of Amorphophallus titanium, which occurs once every 15 years, and lasts for only two days. The bloom stands about five feet tall, and is more commonly known as the “corpse flower.” Beyond that information, the teachers wouldn't say anything more.

Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a third grade classroom during their project presentations. The students in the class had a month to research and prepare a presentation on the topic of their choice. It was fun to see the level of excitement in many of the presenters, who were teaching their peers about something they found truly interesting. Their excitement was contagious, and the peer-to-peer questions were flying. The teacher was sitting back, enjoying the learning that was taking place in her classroom.

You’d be hard-pressed to travel through any town in the nation without seeing at least one public monument. Most monuments commemorate a local hero or seminal event from the past, or – if you’re actor Sylvester Stallone – yourself, in the guise of a movie character. Some monuments, such as the Statue of Liberty in New York or the Taj Mahal in India, are instantly recognizable by a global audience. In fact, monuments such as these are so distinctive that they have come to symbolize an entire nation. What purpose do monuments serve in society today, and what do they tell us?