Reading can be one of the most rewarding activities for adults and children alike. Building a habit of reading is one thing, but building a capability for reading with speed. It helps you gain information quickly while being able to process the information faster. Simplistically it enables you to think faster. It is also a pretty usable skill to have to be able to read fast and understand it all. Got a lot of paperwork? Got a lot to research? It helps! Here’s a few ways to increase your reading speed:

Practice with the clock

It requires experience to approach a material strategically, read actively, and summarize well. Use a timer to see how many words (or pages) per minute you can read if you wish to increase your reading speed. As your reading speed improves, check in with yourself to make sure you’re satisfied with your understanding.

It’s okay to skip

The idea that students must read every part of a textbook or article is an outdated one, according to Dartmouth College’s Academic Skills Center. Skip the portions that aren’t relevant to your goal unless you’re reading something really vital. Instead of just having time to study a few texts in depth, reading selectively allows you to grasp the key ideas of numerous.

Pay attention

Focus and concentration are required to read rapidly and comprehensively. Reduce outside noise, interruptions, and distractions, and be aware of your thoughts as you read. If you find yourself distracted, gently draw your attention back to it. Many readers skim through a few words without paying attention, then go back and reread them to make sure they understand. You’ll soon recognize whether you’re not comprehending a part if you study a book slowly and attentively, saving you time in the long run.

Plan why you’re reading

How you approach a text strategically will have a significant impact on how quickly you can comprehend it. Make a list of your objectives first. What are you hoping to gain from the reading? Make a list of questions you’d like to know the answers to by the end. After that, based on your preview, figure out what the author’s aim was in producing the material. Similarly, change up your strategy depending on what you’re about to read. If you’re reading a thick legal or scientific document, you should undoubtedly read some parts slower and more attentively than you would a fiction or magazine.

Read more

The simplest of all ways to increase reading speed is to read more. Making reading a habit allows you to become adept with your own understanding and reading style. Start with things that interest you strongly such as novels, newspapers and more. Slowly you can graduate to longer and more demanding materials. This enables you to build a good reading speed with time.

Because Reading Eggs is based on scientifically sound research, over 91% report a visible increase in their child’s reading skills after using it. The program unlocks all elements of learning to read for your kid through the five fundamental keys to reading success, concentrating on a core curriculum of phonics and phonemic awareness, sight words, vocabulary, comprehension, and reading for meaning. From schools in the GCC, UAE, Dubai and the rest of the Middle-East similar reports and numbers have been found with Reading Eggs.

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Planet Earth

Earth, our planet is the only planet in the universe that has life due to the presence of water and oxygen. Our home Earth is the third planet from the sun and the fifth largest amongst the 8 planets in our solar system.

How far is Earth from the sun?

The estimated distance of planet Earth from the Sun is about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers. The distance from Earth to the sun is measured in terms of an astronomical unit or AU, which is used to measure the distances through the Solar System. However, the distance between Earth and Sun doesn’t remain constant, because Earth moves around the sun in its orbit which is elliptical or slightly oval-shaped. So, NASA has revealed that in due course of the calendar year sometimes Earth is closer to the sun and sometimes farther away from the sun.

What is Gravity?

Gravity is essentially a force that draws objects to its center. The gravity of the sun keeps all the planets of our solar system in their orbit. The planets that are closer to the sun experience more gravitational pull and those that are farther away have lesser effects of gravity. This is because gravity gets weaker with distance.

Each planet has its own gravity and even the moon & asteroids have gravity, based on their density, size, mass, and distance to other celestial objects.

Even the revolution of the moon around Earth is due to gravitation force. The gravitation pull of the moon causes high and low ocean tides on Earth.

Stars- a part of our Solar System

The twinkly stars that you see at night are actually huge celestial bodies made of hydrogen and helium that produce heat and light due to the nuclear reaction in their core. Stars are a part of the galaxy. Our solar system lies in the Milky Way galaxy and this alone has 300 billion stars.

Some stars appear to shine brighter than others and there are several factors behind this phenomenon. The brightness or luminosity of a star depends on how much energy it is spending on the illuminating effect and at what distance is it from Earth. Stars that far away appear to be less twinkly, than those closer to the Earth.

Under the clear night sky when you gaze up, the stars seem to be arranged in a sort of pattern. The pattern of stars that you notice are called constellations. Officially astronomers have identified 88 constellations and most of them appear as animals or mythical characters. The most popular constellation is Orion, as it is visible from any place on Earth.

Sun-Earth-Moon

The Earth rotates on its axis and this 24-hour cycle causes day and night. We also know that Earth revolves around the sun and takes about 365 days to complete one full round in its orbit. During the day the sun appears at different positions in the sky and it was rises in the East and sets in the West.

Earth’s Movement Brings About Changes in Seasons

Earth is slightly tilted at a 23.5-degree axis, this means one part of Earth is more exposed to the sun’s rays than the other. The part of Earth which is away from the sun experiences cool or winter season, and the part titled towards the sun experiences summer season. Therefore, when it is winter in the Northern hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern hemisphere. So when it is winter in North America, it is summer in Australia- which lies in the Southern hemisphere.

The Phenomena of Day and Night

When we say that the sun rises in the East and slowly moves towards the west, where it sets, it doesn’t mean that the sun is actually moving. It only appears that way because of Earth’s 24-hour rotation. The part of Earth which is exposed to the sun experiences daylight and the other part experiences night. So, when it is sunny in Indonesia, it is night in New York.

Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, and Biosphere

Hydrosphere refers to all the forms of water on Earth. It encompasses water in oceans, lakes, streams, rivers, seas, glaciers, and even water below the surface of the Earth. Plants, animals, and humans require water for survival. Water makes about 71% of the Earth’s surface, however only 0.5% is usable water and hence, water conservation is an important topic to be addressed.

The atmosphere is a layer of air that surrounds Earth and is made up of 14 gases. Weather occurs in the lower atmosphere which is referred to as the troposphere. The ozone layer is present in the stratosphere and is responsible for absorbing the harmful Ultra Violet (UV) rays of the sun. Pollution is rapidly causing the ozone layer to deplete and hence every effort should be made by mankind to reduce the harmful release of pollutants into the atmosphere.

The biosphere is where all organisms, plants, humans, and animals live. All organisms that live three meters below the ground and thirty meters above it are considered a part of the Biosphere.

Carolina’s Building Blocks of Science® 3D: Earth and Space Systems (©2019)

This kit is designed by Carolina for Grade 5 students and consists of 5 lessons, that can be taught in 22 sessions. Along with theoretical knowledge about space, universe, Earth, and sun, children actually use 3D models and practice hands-on learning experiences. IB Schools in Dubai across the Middle East encourage research-based and project-based studies, as it promotes greater retention amongst youngsters.

Summary of the 5 Lessons

Lesson 1: Children are encouraged to conduct research on the 8 planets in our solar system and make posters to showcase their diameter, distance, from the sun, and other important dimensions. They learn about the shape of the Earth and its movement around the sun.

Lesson 2: How does Earth interact with other objects in space? Students make models to investigate why some stars twinkle brighter than others and how they form patterns in the night sky and their position.

Lesson 3: With the help of models, children learn about the phases of the moon and how it affects the tidal pattern on Earth.

Lesson 4: Students are encouraged to work out models and make charts representing the Earth’s major systems of hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, and make a graph showing the distribution of water on Earth.

Lesson 5: Students perform group activities and research the positive and negative impacts of humans on the environment. They also enlist different measures that communities can undertake to protect natural resources.

To learn more about Carolina’s Building Blocks of Science resource kits and to collaborate with them in GCC and UAE regions, visit our website https://knowledge-hub.com/

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As we know it some students love Math and others detest the subject. In a classroom there may be mixed emotions towards perceiving Math, however, a good teacher tries to help students who are weak at Math and give them the confidence to befriend numbers. A good Math teacher makes the sessions interactive and the subject easily understandable, such that students look forward to attending class.

Here are a few qualities that a Math teacher must possess:

Confidence About Mathematics

A successful Math teacher has great knowledge of the subject and has acquired formal education in different branches of mathematics such as; algebra, geometry, and arithmetic. The teacher must be well-versed with the new topics introduced by the various educative boards and stay abreast with the changes in the Math curriculum. Especially if the educator is teaching in an IB School across Dubai, UAE, or any other region that has adopted the IB culture, they need to stay on top of everything, as the curriculum is flexible and new amendments are introduced based on the teaching-learning progress within classrooms.

Making Math Interesting

As we have seen before, Math as a subject can be terrifying and it takes extra efforts for the subject teacher to ease the Math anxiety amongst students. This can only be done with apt teaching methodologies. There are a number of EdTech resources available today that motivate children to learn concepts through activities in a fun & engaging manner. Mathletics is one such popular Math platform adopted by schools across the Middle East, including GCC countries. The best part is that, the activities, games, and challenges, are designed by subject experts and are perfectly aligned with the school’s curriculum. One can even introduce hands-on learning by making use of different tangible Math teaching aids like; 2D – 3D shapes, number rods, abacus, and bead chain for counting & multiplication.

Facilitate Learning

An experienced Math educator never gives out the read-made answer but motivates students to work through the problem and arrive at the solutions. Teachers can give cues and hints, but never solve the problem on behalf of the students. This is the only way children develop confidence. The child becomes more comfortable with numbers and gets exhilarated on arriving at the right answer by himself, thereby motivating himself to perform even better with every successive examination or classroom assignment.

Respect Every Learner’s Pace

Each child is unique as students have their own grasping power. Brilliant learners may pick up the steps to a complex theorem in just one Math explanatory session, while others may still struggle after three times of repetition. However, the teacher needs to consider every child’s pace of learning and slow-down or speed-up a particular topic, as per all the students learning capabilities in class. They may also have to extend extra help to children who can’t cope and even have on-on-one sessions after school hours to bring slow paced learners to the same level of understanding, as other students in class.

Don’t Judge Children on Their Mistakes

Making mistakes in Math is a good thing! When children are pressured to solve the problem and arrive at nothing less than ‘The Correct Answer’ they get tensed & may not feel like attempting the sum. A good teacher changes this mindset by explaining to students that solving complex problems is more of a journey, rather than a destination. Even though the child makes a mistake in the fourth step, the steps prior to the one he made a mistake are still correct and if it were an examination, they could even score marks for the steps. Moreover, mistakes are opportunities to grow! If students are too scared to make a mistake, how would they correct themselves and finally accomplish victory over the subject?

So, being a good Math teacher doesn’t mean every student scores a A+ in their exams. A great teacher knows the strengths and weakness of every student and acts as a catalyst to change the mindset of children from looking at Math as a ‘difficult’ subject, to making it very ‘interesting’ and inculcating an analytical & problem-solving approach amongst learners.

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What is measurement

Measurement is basically to find a number that represents something. The simple English definition of measurement is; the act or process of measuring different units such as; size, length, or amount.

Significance of learning about measurement?

We use measurement in our daily lives, all the time. While deciding how many teaspoons of sugar to add while preparing three cups of tea, you need to estimate the quantity of sugar required. To measure the time it could take for you to drive down to the airport from home, one measures the distance and guesstimate the time of arrival.

The sooner children learn about measurement, the better it is for them. Preschoolers start by measuring weight which is the simplest to understand and then gradually learn to use a ruler & graph charts to analyze complex data in higher standards.

Different standard measurement units are

• Length
• Time
• Weight

Length

Length is measuring an object or distance from one point to another. Length tells us how long an object is, or how far the distance is between two points. Length is used to measure the size of the object and the distance between points.

Common units for measuring length

The standard unit of measuring length is Meter represented as ‘m’. For bigger measurements, the unit changes to ‘kilometers’. For smaller measurements, the same can be represented with; centimeter, millimeter, and decimeter.

Millimeter (mm)

Millimeters are used to measure very minuscule or tiny lengths. Imagine a sharp pencil point. The tip of the pencil would be around (1 mm).

Centimeter (cm)

A centimeter is used to measure small objects. Size of a tiny square paper, a key, a pen, etc. can be measured best using the centimeters scale. A standard metric ruler is 30 centimeters long.

Meter (m)

A meter is used to measure big lengths. A classroom can be measured in terms of meters. Table tops and window frames, can all be equated to the measurement of meter. 1 m = 100 cms

Kilometer (km)

Very long distances are measured in kilometers. The distance from your house to the mall or from distance from one city to another is measured using kilometers. 1 km = 1000 m

Other units for measuring length are; inch, foot, yard, and mile.

Give children objects of different lengths and ask students to measure and compare them. A ruler is thus introduced and children learn how to read the cm and inch markings.

Now ask children to measure their own waist area, using a measuring tape. Take the class outdoors into the garden and ask them to measure the length by holding the meter stick or a retractable measuring tape from one end of the lawn to the other. This helps them calculate meters and then covet meter to an inch or meter to a centimeter.

To teach children about the significance of 1 kilometer, take them for a drive and download any of the distance calculating apps on your phone. At every one-kilometer mark, announce that we have travelled that much of a distance, and then total it up to determine how far has the car actually travelled. Also, help them convert kilometer to meter.

Time

Time helps us prepare a schedule, set a date for an event, and conduct our daily activities as per plan. Introduce children to a clock and teach them about the second hand, minute hand, and hour hand. Start by simple time readings such as; 5:30 and 2:15, and then go to more complex readings such as; 9:53 or 13:45 etc.

Take an English calendar and point to the boxes representing different numbers. Explain the concept of date and how each month is made of 30 or 31 days, with February being an exception having 28 or 29 days. Turn the pages over 12 times to run them through the months January to December and the days of the week subsequently.

• Seconds (s)
• Minutes (min)
• Hours (hr)
• Day
• Week
• Month
• Year

• 60 s = 1 min
• 1 hours = 60 min
• 1 day = 24 hours
• 1 week = 7 days
• 1 month = 30 or 31 days (February has 28 or 29 days)
• 1 year= 12 months

Weight

Weight is the measure of the force of gravity acting on a body. It is the amount of matter an object or thing consists.

Milligram (mg)

It is used to measure very light objects. Imagine the weight of a light feather or a dose of medication, these are very insignificant in weight and thus use the unit of a milligram.

Gram (g)

A gram is used to measure weights of objects that are slightly more significant. It’s a common terminology in households and hotel kitchens because every now and then one uses this measurement to know the weight of ingredients such as; pasta, sugar, flour, butter, and veggies while preparing a dish.

1 g = 1000 mg

Kilogram (kg)

Most of our body weights are measured in kilograms. Even things like a vehicle’s weight, or the weight of a trolley bag at the airport, are measured in kilograms.

1 kg = 1000 g

Introduce students to a balancing scale and place objects of different weights on either side of its arm. Observe which arm goes down and which remains on the top. In this way compare heavy and light, or heavy and heavier, or light and lighter, objects.

To learn about the different units of measurement, Mathseeds devices fun activities, lessons, and puzzles for children between 3-9 years of age and guides them through their learning journey. Mathseeds is a popular subject-specific platform renowned in the Middle East, UK, US, and Australia. Educators of K-12 schools all over UAE in Dubai & GCC, encourage parents to use Mathseeds to reinforce concepts, as an after-class additional Math practice session for kids.

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Language is a structured system of communication used by humans, based on speech and gesture, sign or often writing. The structure of language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. While a child takes a while to converse properly in a given language, they take even longer to fully read the text of that language.

Reading stimulates part of a child’s brain to grow and be more active. Reading can widen a child’s vocabulary and comprehension ability. Through reading, children develop their empathy, build confidence, and expand their imagination.

No one is born already having the ability to read though. It is important to know, therefore, the stage at which your child is currently reading.

Encourage language development

By the time children reach the age of 1 year, they are able to understand the fundamentals of language. This is the ideal age at which parents should start developing their understanding further. Some ways that children do this is by imitating the sounds they hear, respond when spoken to or focus on pictures. While they pick up words by the shapes they produce, they can confuse words that are similar in shape such as ‘ball’ with ‘doll’. At such times, parents should eagerly encourage and further their child’s attempts at these words.

Partial Alphabets

After figuring out the shapes of words, children soon start to pick up words that start with the same alphabet and which make the same sound. Words like ‘cart’ and ‘can’t’ can be understood by the starting alphabet but understanding the whole word is challenging as they may pronounce the same word twice since they also end with the same letter. At such times, despite this confusion that a toddler has, parents should continue to further teach them basic words that are easy to work with. With time, these small confusions will leave the child’s mind.

Full Alphabets

By the time children reach this stage, they have already entered kindergarten. At this stage, children have the letters of the alphabets memorised as well as their corresponding sounds. They can also sound out the alphabets and visualise their shape which points to developing phonemic awareness. While all this is definitely an indication of massive improvement in the child, the school’s writing exercises take care of the alphabetic awareness of the children.

myON is a digital reading application that enables students to read anytime, anywhere including holidays, weekends, school breaks and vacations. Students receive login instructions from their school, district or community. Once they log in, they can read books within the myON Digital Library and Daily News Articles from myON News.

myON’s Digital Library offers students a way to,

• Read books on any web-enabled device with an internet connection
• Read books online with free mobile apps
• Read the same books as many times as they wish to read it
• Use optional reading support including audio, text highlighting and an embedded dictionary.

myON has a developing market in countries that are members of the GCC in the Middle East like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Cities like Dubai, which is such a technologically developed city, has brought myON to numerous schools and homes, for children to better their understanding of a language and surely create a better future for themselves.

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In our day to day lives, we come across math functionalities and apply it without even realizing its significance. At the grocery store weighing veggies, paying bills, speculating what stock to invest in, checking how many steps you need to walk more to achieve your fitness goals, or even calculating the time that you would take to drive down to a certain destination, all of this requires the use of math. Love or hate math, students can’t escape learning math, even though it might seem scary sometimes. In recent times, there are many math apps and learning tools used in countries like GCC, UAE, the West, and even India, to make a boring subject like math, more engaging. Want to make numbers your best friend? Read through this Blog and see how interesting Math Trivia could be. Here are few samples:

• In North Germanic ancient times in Medieval Norway, the word ‘hundrath’ was used, which later came to be called as ‘hundred’. And ‘hundrath’ actually meant 120 and not 100. We still wonder what the logic could be behind naming 100 as ‘hundrath’ back then?
• The term ‘Google’, world’s most popular search engine in today’s time, was derived from the word ‘googol’. It basically means 1 followed by 100 zeros (or 10100 ). The idea was proposed by mathematician Edward Kasner’s young nephew back in 1937, and Google wanted to communicate the message that its ‘search engine’ is capable of processing a huge amount of data, such as that infinite number.
• Ever wondered who discovered math? Well, while the formal introduction might have been done in 3,000 BC by ancient Sumerians who built civilizations in Mesopotamia, but the marking on animal bones indicate that humans were practicing math since 30,000BC.
• When you re-arrange ‘11+2’ to ‘12+1’ the answer to both these sums is 13. This is an example of an anagram, where the digits are re-arranged to form a new equation, but having the same answer.
• Next time you casually say ‘i’ll be back in a jiffy’, here’s what it actually means. A ‘jiffy’ is defined as a unit of time which actually means 1/100th of a second.
• ‘Four’ is the only number in English language that is spelt with the same number of letters as the number itself. No other number has the same number of letters that matches the digits. Try it for yourself!
• The number ‘zero’ is taken from the Arabic word ‘sifr’ and is also indicated as zip, nil, zilch, or naught. Unlike Roman numerical such as I – for 1, V – for 5, and X – for 10, the number ‘0’ does not have any Roman equivalent indication.
• If all the numbers where arranged in alphabetic order, ‘eight’ would come first. Now why don’t you try finding out the last number in the alphabetic sequence.
• Take a dice and roll it. Now try totalling up the numbers on the opposite side of the dice. They will always add up to seven. We urge you to try it now!
• Can you think of all the prime numbers between 1 to 100? Yes, they would be (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, and so on). Now can you spell each of them? You would be amazed to know that, number 2 – ‘two’ is the only prime number that doesn’t have the letter ‘e’ in its name.
• Did you know this social media friendly # or hashtag sign has a special term name called as ‘octothorpe.’ Pretty cool fact for you to share with your social media buddies!

It’s time for you to share these Math Trivia with your classmates and show-off your knowledge. Mathletics is a cool platform that supports 2,00,000 math teachers across the globe to give students the dual advantage of mastering the subject, while having fun. Schools across the world, including Dubai in the Middle East, collaborate with Mathletics platform, to go beyond conventional textbooks and make mathematics more interesting. Students are even rewarded with a certificate of achievement to motivate them to flaunt their achievements.

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