County Spelling

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Now that most students have been in school for a few weeks, the challenge of completing homework may be starting. Many students struggle with completing their homework each night in a timely, accurate, productive way without getting frustrated. There are several strategies a student can take to minimize homework struggles each night of the week.

First, a student must have a homework plan of action or schedule. The student needs to take into account several factors and variables. The first one is after school activities and sports. Make out a schedule of the days and times of all obligations. Then, figure out what time and for how long you have to complete your homework. Once the schedule is determined, a plan of action will follow. I recommend having a healthy snack before completing homework especially if you will be working right after school. Breaks should be taken often to keep your mind sharp and boredom at bay. A good study area without distractions is important. A student should have a quiet area, with plenty of desk space, and appropriate school supplies to be affective.

Next, the student should determine the order in which homework should be completed. There are many different strategies to follow, but the best one I have seen is to complete the homework from hardest to easiest. Whatever subject is the most difficult for the student, this homework should be completed first. Also, assignments that are due the next day should be completed before long-term assignments are tackled. If a student has 20 math problems to complete for class the next day and an essay to write for English that is due the next week, the math homework should be finished first. Then, the student should work for 20-30 minutes on the essay each night so that the night before it is due he/she will not have to spend hours completing the assignment.

The next question is usually, how long should a student spend doing his/her homework. Of course this depends on the grade of the student. Here are some guidelines to follow:

1st Grade: 20 minutes

2-4th Grades: 30 minutes

5-6th Grades: 1 hour

7-8th Grades: 1 hour - 1 and a half hours

9-12th Grades: 30 minutes per subject

Any more time spent than these guidelines usually proves to be overwhelming and counter-productive for the student.

Please do not forget about study time and notes review. In my opinion, there is no such thing as, "Oh, I don't have any homework tonight, the teacher did not assign anything." Even if there is no assignment due the next day, a student should always review their class notes from that day or re-read the current chapter in the textbook. Time should be spent every night studying the current material and reviewing past material. True learning comes from students retaining knowledge in their long-term memories rather than cramming it in their short- term memories for a test. Through constant review and recycling of the material, a student will gain true learning.

Lastly, if a student is truly struggling with completing his/her homework each night, it may be time to seek out a private in-home tutor. A private tutor can help a student complete his/her homework, but they can do so much more than this. A private in-home tutor can help a student gain confidence in school with the subject matter and improve his/her grades. If a student is struggling early on in the school year, the longer a parent waits to find the student help, the more difficult it will be for the student to succeed in the class.

Aim for the Stars Tutoring out of Douglas County, Colorado provides in-home, one-on-one tutoring for students in all subjects and grades. For more information, please visit our website at: www.AimfortheStarsTutoring.com

Meredith Jacob is the owner and founder of Aim for the Stars Tutoring. Meredith taught high school French for 7 years in Oklahoma, Texas and 3 of the years in Colorado at Cherry Creek High School. Meredith has also tutored one-on-one to students in their homes. For the last 6 years, Meredith has been a stay-at-home mom. Meredith is married to David and they have three children; Payton, age 6, entering first grade, Braydon, age 4, entering pre-kindergarten, and Bryce age 2. Meredith enjoys competing in triathlons, reading, hiking, and spending time with her family.

For more information on finding a tutor in Douglas County, Colorado please visit the Aim for the Stars Tutoring website at http://AimfortheStarsTutoring.com

60 Musicals Songs for Men That Cross the Fourth Wall

You're a Musicals singer looking for a song that can reach out to an audience, one that you can play to them directly. You're looking for a "House number".

A song that can reach across the fourth wall of a theatre (the invisible wall between the characters and the audience) is called a House number. Characters in a play don't usually realise that they are being watched by a house full of people, so House numbers can be rare.

In Musical theater there are only a few true House numbers, but you can actually make other songs cross the fourth wall fairly easily. Here are 60 songs for men that can be sung to the audience directly. I've listed the songs in three categories: the true House number

the song to audience

the soliloquy.

The first category is the true House number: The singer is fully aware that the audience is there and "comes out" of the show.

If You Want To Die In Bed, and American Dream from Miss Saigon, and Oh What A Circus from Evita are good examples of the true House number. Sondheim writes excellent House numbers, such as Comedy Tonight and Everybody Ought To Have A Maid from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, or Invocation to the Gods And Instructions to the Audience from The Frogs (not often performed as it's set in a real swimming pool).

In the second category, the character plays to an audience on stage as part of the show. The most obvious song for the men is Master of the House from Les Miserables. The MC from Cabaret usually expands the Berlin nightclub audience to include the actual theatre audience with songs such as Willkommen and If You Could See Her. In Barnum, The Museum Song is sung to a general group of people, as is Bigger Isn't Better. Springtime for Hitler is sung to the audience in The Producers, as is Beautiful Girls (from Follies).

Consider the songs Use What You Got from The Life, Pinball Wizard from Tommy, and I Am What I Am from La Cage Aux Folles. Stand Up And Fight from Carmen Jones, and Get Me To The Church On Time from My Fair Lady can be a house numbers. You could also get away with All I Care About Is Love, and Mr Cellophane, from Chicago An unusual one is Come Up To My Office from Parade, where the leading man "re-enacts" a scene in a courtroom, according to the imaginary version of his young female co-workers.

Tribute Musicals are a useful source of House numbers such as That'll Be The Day and Johnny Be Good from Buddy, or I Want To Break Free from We Will Rock You. Virtually any song from Hedwig And The Angry Inch would work, including Sugar Daddy and Angry Inch. 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has an implied audience for the spelling contest, and the "children" sing songs such as My Unfortunate Erection straight to them. I Can Do That (from A Chorus Line) is sung to Zach who is actually seated at the back of the real audience.

Then there's the third type - the unifocus song (the soliloquy) that has an outward feel, or asks questions, or contains rhetoric. Funny from City of Angels. What Is It About Her from Wild Party, and Don't Take Much from The Life work well. All I Need Is The Girl from Gypsy will work, as will Tonight At Eight and She Loves Me from She Loves Me. Check out How To Handle A Woman from Camelot, Being Alive from Company, and two from Parade (Pretty Music, and Big News).

Oddly enough, Anthem from Chess could work as a fourth wall number as the Russian could be sharing his story with the audience. You might also experiment with songs like Make Them Hear You from Ragtime, If I Were A Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof, or Thank Heaven For Little Girls from Gigi. And two to include in this list are And They're Off from A New Brain, and Dressing Them Up from Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Giants In The Sky from Into The Woods, Larger Than Life from My Favorite Year, Corner Of The Sky from Pippin and Guys and Dolls (the title song) will translate well across the fourth wall. And from Les Miserables, you might explore Dog Eat Dog - Thenadier's great solo scene from Act 2, or King Of The World (Songs for a New World). Then there's Dentist! from Little Shop of Horrors, Leaning On A Lampost from Me and My Girl, and Reviewing the Situation from Oliver!

You can raid pretty much any revue-style show for material - Sondheim's shows are a very good place to start - The Ballad of Booth from Assassins, Everybody Says Don't from Anyone Can Whistle, or These Are My Friends from Sweeney Todd, sung as Todd is reunited with his razors.

Incidentally, The Soliloquy from Carousel won't work, because the singer is arguing with himself and is definitely not including anyone else except perhaps God. However, This Is The Moment can work because you can share your success with the audience.

Slower songs don't tend to work but there are exceptions: What More Can I Say from Falsettos, or Higher Than A Hawk from Calamity Jane. A Little Happiness from Personals is a more reflective story that is designed to be shared with the audience.

The point of a House number is to communicate with your audience directly, so remember to use plenty of eye contact when you perform. Enjoy!

About the Author

Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos - featured on the BBC and broadcast to 44,000,000 people. He was commissioned by the DANA Centre at London's Science Museum to create a video on singing with a camera down his throat. Jeremy is fascinated by bringing technology and innate skill together. http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk

Audition Song for the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee?

I want to be Logainne Shwatzandgrubinierre(sp?) but i honestly have no idea what type of song to sing any suggestions ( it would be a bad idea to sing in a lisp since you first audition for all parts)
I am a 16 year old soprano

Second Hand Rose.

Sixth grader wins Tri-County Spelling Bee
MARTINSBURG - A South Middle School sixth grader took top honors at the Tri-County Spelling Bee Saturday morning, after spelling tricky words that some people never may have heard before. Eleven-year-old Deep Vudathu of Martinsburg said that while he was excited to win the local spelling competition, he didn't expect he would.

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