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March 2003--Try It

 

QUICK ERASE  Erasers on pencils get worn down quickly, so Philadelphia teacher Sandra Cohen has found a way to keep track of the separate rectangular erasers she likes to keep in her classroom but that all too often get lost. Cohen puts a hole in the eraser and attaches it with a string to a sponge.

She then draws a cartoon "SpongeBob" on it with a permanent marker. The kids love it, she notes, asking to "Pass the SpongeBob" when they need to use the eraser. It's easy to find, and "it has not disappeared, even weeks later."
 

CRACK AN EGG  Deb Cousino of Petersburg, Mich., uses plastic Easter eggs for a spring learning activity. She writes questions about information the students have learned over the year, including current events, and places one inside each egg. Students select an egg and use maps, texts, calculators, informational posters and measurement tools to answer questions. Be sure to number the questions as well as the egg to locate missing or lost eggs, she notes.
 

MATH SITE  Fox Lake, Ill., high school math teacher Sheila Cameron suggests sending students to www.hotmath.org for homework help. The site includes most textbooks covering math courses offered in high school today. Math students can click onto their textbook and find solutions and explanations for solving the odd-numbered problems that appear in the back of their textbook.


Submissions for "Try It" should be sent in care of American Teacher. (Sorry, we cannot acknowledge or return submissions.) We'll pay $40 for each idea that is used.

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