Books by Mr. Charnock

Mt. Horeb: The Little White Schoolhouse on Little Deer Creek

Mt. Horeb: The Little White
Schoolhouse on Little Deer Creek

Mt. Horeb: The Little White Schoolhouse on Little Deer Creek is a brief history of my schooling in Street, Maryland, where I walked the dirt road to the little one-room schoolhouse called Mt. Horeb from 1946 to 1948, when the school closed. I never forgot my first-, second-, and fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Constance Smith, with whom I had kept in contact.

I have always been interested in history and was delighted with Miss Smith’s suggestion that Mt. Horeb’s past be looked into and shared. This volume has three focuses:

1) The Nostalgic Remembrances of an Early Maryland One-Room School by Those Who Attended and Taught There (With Interesting Data and Old-Timey Pictures)
2) A Brief, Succinct, and Eye-Opening History of Small Schools in America
3) Easy-to-Read Research Briefs That Support Returning to Smaller, Local-Community Schools Today

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The Creative Teacher: Activities for Language Arts (Grades 4 Through 8 and Up)

The Creative Teacher: Activities for Language Arts
(Grades 4 Through 8 and Up)

The Creative Teacher is a teachers’ guide filled with student activities in writing, public speaking, researching, dramatizing, and more. This is the second edition of the 2005 publication, A Non-Workbook, Non-Textbook Approach to Teaching Language Arts. The numerous practical approaches make this book a worthy addition to your teaching library. You will be impressed with how simple and fun teaching language arts can be.

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Classroom Games

Downloadable. Reusable. Recyclable.
Print all the pieces at your desk.

My classroom games were created with the intent of being affordable and accessible tools for teachers.
When students participate in classroom games, they are unknowingly participating in learning.

With my games, teachers pay a fraction of the cost of traditional classroom games and print and laminate materials from their desks.
They can hold onto these files to rejuvenate their game when the materials become worn from classroom use.

Word Match: Synonym, Antonym, Homonym

Word Match: Synonym, Antonym, Homonym

In an atmosphere of cooperation, competition and challenge (and a little luck thrown in for fun), your students can reinforce essential phonetic and vocabulary skills without being tediously aware of how much they are learning. Word Match: Synonym, Antonym, Homonym—a mentally and socially active game—creates such an atmosphere and an enthusiastic response from players. (Grades 2 to 5)

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What State isThat ?

“What State is That?” can be played as either a fast-paced game of 10 minutes or a more challenging and complicated 20 minute play based on selected options.

Regardless, “What State is That?” is an exciting play. Similar ready-made games sell off the shelf for triple to quadruple the price of this one. (Grades 2 to 8)

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lineup games

Line Up! 3 Games in 1
Visualized Learning: Sentence Capitalization-Punctuation

You would never guess from the single title that this is a capitalization and punctuation activity. No one has it, and publishers have refused to publish it because “teachers will find it too easy to copy,” as one put it. It’s physically, socially, and intellectually exciting and just plain English-reinforcement fun. Close the door! (Grades 2 to 8)

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Game Components

To ensure the game components endure repeated classroom use, you may want to print on 8×11 inch paper or cardstock and laminate them.

Below, I’ve included products you can purchase through Amazon Prime that I personally use, trust, and recommend to you.

Fellowes Thermal Laminating Sheets, 3mil Letter Size Pouches, 9 x 11.5, 200 Pack, Clear (5743401)

Fellowes Thermal Laminating Sheets, 3mil Letter Size Pouches, 9 x 11.5, 200 Pack,
Clear (5743401)

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Neenah Exact 30% Recycled Extra-Heavyweight Index Card Stock, 8 1/2in. x 11in., 110 Lb, White, pk Of 250 Sheets, 40411

Neenah Exact 30% Recycled Extra-Heavyweight Index Card Stock, 8 1/2in. x 11in., 110 Lb, White, pk Of 250 Sheets, 40411

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Fellowes Saturn 3i 95 Thermal Laminator Machine for Home or Office with Pouch Starter Kit, 9.5 inch, Fast Warm-Up, Jam-Free Design (5735801)

Fellowes Saturn 3i 95 Thermal Laminator Machine for Home or Office with Pouch Starter Kit, 9.5 inch, Fast Warm-Up, Jam-Free Design (5735801)

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Language Arts Articles

Teaching Classroom Interviewing_v2

Teaching Classroom
Interviewing

Sounds easy enough, but there's a technique to such things, you know. Provides an example of two types of interviewing. Students will love the social interaction, too. 5 Pages / PDF / Grades 4-12...
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Teaching Book Reports DO IT RIGHT_v2

Teaching Book Reports?
DO IT RIGHT.

They've been done for decades and will be for decades more. This article gives both teacher and student examples - from "fanciful fiction" to "in the minority" book reports. Includes book lists and a "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down" student-ratin...
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The Art of StoryTAKING

The Art of
StoryTAKING

You can teach it 'til the cows come home, but unless you let the students get out in "the field" and practice, all those writing rules will take longer to sink in--and bore the students to boot. This program allows your class to enjoy all that....
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HOW Picture Books Improve Public Speaking and Lessen Stage Fright

HOW Picture Books Improve Public Speaking and Lessen Stage Fright

Get those students out of their seats and performing in other classrooms! This easy-to-follow program not only engenders student.....
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Assaying the Essay

Assaying
the Essay

Say that again? Yes, there is a value to writing longer compositions. But just like money, it should not become onerous (well, maybe that is not a good analogy). The best past writers have admitted, and current ones do too, that they ha...
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A Mini-Potpourri of Ideas to Spark Structured-Creative-Writing and Art

A Mini-Potpourri of Ideas to Spark Structured-Creative-
Writing and Art

Sometimes creativity does have a way of getting out of hand--especially in children. So, herein,
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Memory Writing

Memory Writing: A Powerful Method for Teaching
Paragraphing and More

"Memory writing" is simple, engaging, very logical, and very elementary, my dear teacher. But it's only elementary because it's basic, and its a wonderful starting, and continuing, point--not just for creative and expository compositions, bu
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Diary Writing I Hate It...I Love It

Diary Writing:
I Hate It…I Love It

This is not one of those "you ought to do this, but I'm not going to lead you by the hand" articles. I tell you WHAT diary writing really is, WHY it is important, HOW to conduct your program---and give a list of intriguing topics to use in a pinch. 7
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Phonics and Syllables in the Middle and Upper Grades—Another Approach

Phonics and Syllables in the Middle and Upper Grades—Another Approach

If you have to teach any middle or upper elementary students who are really PRIMARY students, skill-wise, you need a shortcut to getting phonetic and word attack skills across. Check out these unusual, non-traditional, yet
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Tape-Assisted Reading: When Students Aren't Learning Any Other Way

Tape-Assisted Reading: When Students Aren’t Learning Any Other Way

You've worked very diligently to help Johnny or Mary to read, but they are getting far behind and
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Unique Bulletin Board Letters for Tracing—Part One

Unique Bulletin Board Letters for Tracing—Part One

These templates for bulletin board letters are not pristine in appearance—being scanned copies of used templates—but they are unique in style and
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CATS--What a Strange Title: How to Teach Categorizing-Paragraphing

CATS–What a Strange Title: How to Teach Categorizing-Paragraphing

Some ideas just don't sink in easily; you have to pound them, gently, in this case. This is a sneak
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Paragraphing Made Simple for Grades 4 through High School

Paragraphing Made Simple for Grades 4 through High School

Learning paragraphing from trade or textbooks is about as appetizing as chewing leather. They are not enaging, not intellectually stimulating (that's
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EXPERTS: Becoming a True Researcher

EXPERTS: Becoming a
True Researcher

Even that little brat of a kid torturing an ant is doing some research: He has questions, has formed a hypothesis, is testing it, and is finding
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Letter Writing

Letter Writing: Don’t Let It Become a Lost Art

Computer or not, letter-writing skills and formats have to be learned. Here are sometimes-silly, reproducible assignments: concrete, simple, an
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A Starter/Mini-Literature Kit for Grades 3-5 and Up

A Starter/Mini-Literature Kit for Grades 3-5 and Up

In this article you will have access to about 20 book "ads" for grades 3-5+, (sort of a mini-starter kit). You can use these to motivate your students
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Storytelling: In the Classroom and Beyond

Storytelling: In the Classroom
and Beyond

Often it's the comedian who tells a very short story and gets a laugh...or not. Herein, you will learn how to instill traditional storytelling skills in
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Doing a Poem: How to Start Losing Your Fear of Classroom Drama

Doing a Poem: How to Start Losing Your Fear of Classroom Drama

Why let the class clown get all the attention? Here's an engaging drama-like activity that
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Math Articles

Geography Articles

Classroom Art

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