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Schools and other nonprofit groups are collecting
“non-recyclable” packaging such as drink pouches, yogurt
containers, energy bar wrapper and cookie wrappers as part of a
free, nationwide program called TerraCycle.
Schools can raise funds while teaching students about recycling,
conservation and the environment. Sign up at the TerraCycle Web
site. You will pay no shipping costs, but earn 2 to 5 cents for
every piece of used packing you collect.
Click Here for More Information
Contests tap students' creativity,
inventiveness
Details of two contests for students in
grades 5-8 are available at
www.nmoe.org, the website of the National Museum of
Education.
Invent something that using bubblewrap
cushioning. Top prize is a $10,000 US Savings Bond.
The deadline is November 3.
Create an invention that incorporates the
use of rubberbands. More than $20,000 will be given away
in prizes for students and mentoring teachers. The
deadline is November 14.
Related standards based teaching materials
are on the website.
Recycle for your School!
Terracycle lets you earn money while you
recycle. What do they pay for? Lots of stuff: used
20 oz. plastic soda bottles, yogurt containers, foil energy bar
wrappers and drink pouches. There is no cost to join the
program. In addition to promoting recycling practices,
your school can raise money at the same time! You will
also receive prepaid mailing materials to ship the stuff to
Terracycle. These materials are "upcycled" into
affordable, eco-friendly products, including organic cleaners
and fertilizer, handbags, backpacks and pencil cases. For
more info, visit
www.terracycle.net .
Seaworld/Busch Gardens Awards for Student
and Educator Environmentalists
These awards recognize outstanding efforts
of students and teachers working at the grassroots level across
the country to protect and preserve the environment. This
year, eight project will be selected. Each winning group
receives:
$10,000 to benefit the project
An all expense paid trip for three students
and one adult leader to and Anheuser-Busch theme park for an
awards event
100 T-shirts to share with school and
community partners
From the eight projects, one outstanding
environmental educator/leader will be recognized and receive:
A $5,000 award
An all expense paid trip for him or her and
one guest to an Anheuser Bush theme park for an awards event
An all expenses paid trip to the 2008
National Science Teachers Association national conference
All schools grades K-12 in the US are
eligible to appl. Entries must be received by 5 pm on
November 28, 2008. To learn more go to
www.seaworld.org/conservation-matters/eea/index.htm
NEA Books Across America Library Books
Award are made in collaboration between NEA and the NEA
Foundation. Approximately 50 grants of $1,000 are awarded
to help public schools that serve economically disadvantaged
students to purchase books for their school libraries.
Originally created to help school libraries in the Gulf Coast
region devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the program is
now open to public schools and libraries around the country.
School libraries in need can apply for the grantsby visiting the
NEA website at
www.neafoundation.org/grants.htm . The deadline to apply is
November 20, 2008.
A practice guide titled Organizing Instruction and
Study to Improve Student Learning was developed by an
expert panel convened by the Institute of Education Sciences.
The guide offers a set of seven research-based recommendations,
with a summary of the research evidence and a level-of-evidence
rating provided for each recommendation. The seven
recommendations have been synthesized to result in the four
recommended practices on this Web site. This practice guide is
the foundation for all the Doing What Works content on how to
organize your teaching.
Click Here to Access Practice Guide
The award-winning documentary Split: A divided
America is available free to teachers for fall
classroom use. The film’s six independent chapters explore U.S.
politics and “blue/red division” through a nonpartisan lens.
This teaching tool is intended to help educators explore and
facilitate dialogue regarding the 2008 campaigns. The
accompanying Web site hosts an interactive forum for
online debate. You can also download the Teacher’s Guide
Introduction.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
NSF and the Birth of the Internet is a multimedia story
of the creation of the Internet. Learn about the individuals who
began connecting computers in the 1960s. Listen to Vint Cerf,
often referred to as “the father of the Internet,” describe
their work. Find out about TCP/IP, packet switching, CSNET and
other technologies and initiatives. Trace developments back to
the first Internet message (October 29, 1969) and the first Web
page (August 6, 1991). And see predictions about what’s next.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Discovery Education has joined forces with Walden
University, mimio, Adobe Systems, Inc., Elmer's Products, Inc.
and CDW-G to launch New Teacher Survival Central,
featuring an array of classroom tools designed to welcome and
support educators new to the teaching profession. In the
Technology 101 area of the site, educators can access
concise, practical information on how educational technologies
promote student engagement in learning and what tools are
available for use in the classroom. Free K–12 student
resources are highlighted for teachers in the Tech Tools for
Students section of the site. With a variety of interactive
games, virtual labs and lessons, new educators have access to a
broad collection of quality tools that can help engage students
across the curriculum. Another section of the site, Homeroom
Headquarters, allows educators to access information on the
art of classroom management. Featuring actionable advice on
creating a positive classroom environment, communicating with
parents and managing students, this area provides educators with
tips and guidelines to help them run a classroom smoothly and
efficiently. New educators also will find videos covering
a broad array of topics, such as lesson planning, community and
parental involvement and effective use of technology. In
Survival Tool Kit: Best of the Web, useful Web sites for
teachers are collected in one place.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Plus:
New Teacher Survival Central is offering $50,000 in
weekly prizes until January 31, 2009. New educators
are encouraged to enter every week to improve their chance of
winning.
Click Here for More Information
Arithmetickles, a show performed in school auditoriums
and produced by a New Jersey nonprofit, aims to get young
students excited about math by using music and student
participation to get the message across. By exploring the most
imaginative and entertaining aspects of learning,
Arithemetickles combines comedy, pantomime and sound effects to
demonstrate how learning math can be exciting, challenging and
fun! Students become “stars of the show” as they apply their
understanding of basic math to answer grade-appropriate
questions, resulting in positive confidence building. Watch a
preview online.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
The Verizon Foundation is accepting proposals from
eligible institutions for Literacy Grants. All 501(c)3
organizations, including elementary and secondary schools
(public and private), registered with the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) are eligible for grants of up to
$10,000.
Deadline: November 1, 2008
Click Here for More Information
Colonial Williamsburg’s 2008–2009 Electronic Field
Trip series launches October 16 with “The Will of
the People,” a timely premiere for this year’s election
season. The presidential election of 1800, one of the most
bitter in U.S. history, is part of a surprising lesson for a
21st century student. Thomas Jefferson explains how negative
campaigning, partisan politics and contested elections have been
part of our political system since the early days of the
republic. “The Will of the People” is the first of seven
Electronic Field Trips broadcast one Thursday each month from
October through April at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern time on
participating PBS stations and cable channels across the
country. Targeted to grades 4–8, the distance learning
programs span a broad range of historical subjects about
people, issues and events from colonial times to the present
day. Each Electronic Field Trip is supported with lesson
plans, interactive student resources and other
materials to help make history exciting and relevant for
students. All materials have been developed by teachers,
historians and museum educators and meet state standards for
history, technology and literacy. Selected programs also
correlate to state science and arts education standards.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
The U.S. Department of Education recently launched a Web
site, College.gov, aimed at motivating students to go to
college. The site, which features video testimonials from
students, includes links to statistics about how much more money
college graduates earn, pointers on how to find academic and
financial support, and a customizable checklist of steps for
students to take.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Teach
the Vote
Great election teaching
tools for you!
ELECTION 2008 CLASSROOM KIT
The presidential election is an exciting time that brings
American history to life for students. Get everyone involved
with these engaging activities across the curriculum.
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3750128
National
Character Counts!
WeekConnect with classrooms around the globe from October
19–25 in the world’s biggest celebration of character. The
Character Counts! website has all the free resources you need to
make your event a huge success. Register online for downloadable
lesson plans, community outreach suggestions, and more. Last
year, more than 5 million kids in 51 countries joined to
celebrate character.
Saluting Our Vets
The History Channel wants your K–12 students to take a veteran
to school. This nationwide initiative strengthens community ties
and brings history to life. At the History Channel website, you
can find curriculum resources and all the information you need
to organize your own
Take a Veteran to School Day .
Go Wacky for Wikis
Does it feel like every one is talking about wikis, except you?
These simple, easy-to-edit group websites are a great teaching
resource that lets a class connect any time and anywhere the
Internet reaches.
Wikispaces is giving away 1000,000 wikis to K–12 teachers.
The sites have no advertising, come with unlimited usage, and
are completely free. Get a wiki of your own, and see what the
buzz is all about.
Comics
for Economic Literacy
The economy is on everyone’s mind today, so why not give your
students a primer on economics? The Federal Reserve offers
twelve different free
comics that teach children about the history of money,
foreign trade, the importance of saving, and more.
Students in grades 3–5 can let their teachers know how special
they are by choosing them for a chance to go to a cool math and
science camp next summer. The Mickelson ExxonMobil 2009
Teachers Academy offers a five-day program, with camps in
New Jersey, Texas and Louisiana, designed to provide teachers of
grades 3–5 with the knowledge and skills necessary to motivate
students to pursue careers in science and math. The award
includes an all-expenses-paid, five-day program in July 2009.
Deadline: October 31, 2008
Click Here for More Information
Hold on to your hat! It's a new school year and NEA's Read
Across America promises to keep you rich in reading resources
all year long! Here's how to start:
Order the 2008-09 Resource Calendar (also available as a
download) at
www.nea.org/readacross
Go to www.kidthing.com/nea
each month for free teacher downloads that augment the calendar
and keep it up to date.
Sign up for the monthly newsletter featuring grant information,
literacy news, and more. Send a blank email to
join-nea-raa-enewsletter@list.nea.org .
Mark your calendar for March 2, 2009 and join the biggest
reading celebration in the nation, NEA's Read Across America
Day.
Check out NEA's Read Across America website-you'll find new
booklists, reading tips, activity ideas, planning info, media
articles and more! Go to
www.nea.org/readacross
.
With Census in Schools, Students Can Ask: How Many Toy
Stores Are in My State?
Created by the US Census Bureau, Census in Schools is a program
that incorporates census data such as housing, economic and
geographic information into free lesson plans and classroom
activities. The lesson plans range from teaching students
in grades K-2 how to read a map key, to teaching vocabulary such
as reapportionment and gerrymandering to 11th and 12th graders.
The program's website features a colorful map for elementary
students that links to state information including the capital,
population data and even the number of toy stores. For
more information, visit
www.census.gov/dmd/www/teachers.html
Famed Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos is the focus of this
year's NYSUT Hispanic Heritage Month poster. For a free
poster featuring back to back English and Spanish text, email
orders@nysutmail.org .
Shipping and handling charges apply. Printable posters are
also available at www.nysut.org
.
The producers of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer are
preparing the.Vote and the.Gov—a
series of eleven 4- to 5-minute reports on the 2008 campaign
leading to the inauguration of the next president. After
Election Day, the series will evolve from the.Vote to
the.Gov and look at the process of forming a new government,
identifying key issues for the new administration and new
Congress. The video segments, hosted by the.News
journalists, will be provided free to middle school and
high school teachers and their students throughout the fall
campaign. Each segment of the.Vote and the.Gov is
accompanied by online, standards-based activities
that will give students the opportunity to create multimedia
works: you.Edit allows students to rework and
re-edit video material provided by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions,
and you.Report serves as a home for student-generated
content (students’ perspectives on policy issues and the
election process). All segments will be closed captioned. An
initial the.Vote report has been posted online, allowing
educators to become familiar with the.Vote and the
educational opportunities it provides. Regular production will
begin in September and run up to the inauguration in January
2009.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Including Everyone: Small Changes to Create a Welcoming
Classroom is the newest offering from RaceBridges For
Schools, which provides tools for teachers and students to
help build stronger and more inclusive communities. The
practical advice included in this free, downloadable
guide focuses on small, everyday changes teachers can make in
their classrooms to help students be more open to difference, to
be less judgmental and to be more likely to counter prejudice in
themselves and others.
Click Here to Download Free Guide
|
The New Americans Web site offers an
educational adventure for students in grades 7–12. The
site supplements the PBS documentary series,
which explores the immigrant experience through personal
stories. Interactive sections of the site allow students
to explore the immigration experience through a
timeline, maps and activities in
tracking family history and examining the effect of
immigration on the nation. Eleven lesson plans
involve students in activities such as analyzing factual
data or conducting oral histories of first- or
second-generation immigrants. For workplaces, schools
and community organizations that would like to use
shorter stories from The New Americans to
increase understanding of recent immigrants, Active
Voice and Kartemquin Films offer three brief,
themed Video/DVD Modules and Discussion Guides
for a nominal fee.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Click Here to Order Video/DVD Modules and Discussion
Guides |
|
Plus:
See how much you know about immigrants and immigration
in America. Try this Immigration Myths and Reality
Quiz.
Click Here to Take the Quiz |
The U.S. Department of Education’s Teaching Literacy
in English to K–5 English Learners provides videos,
slideshows and tools for teaching reading to K–5
English learners. The site’s resources are based on five
research-based recommendations: screen and monitor students’
progress; provide small-group reading interventions; provide
vocabulary instruction throughout the day; develop academic
English competence beginning in primary grades; and schedule
regular peer-assisted learning opportunities, including
structured language practice.
Click Here to Access Free Resources
Presented by National Geographic for Kids, DogEared
is a blog about books—good books, funny books, adventure books;
books about animals, friendship, pirates, faraway places . . .
every kind of book that kids enjoy. Why is the site called “DogEared”?
You know when you read a book and you turn the top edge of a
page over to mark your place? That’s called a “dog-ear”!
Students mark (“dog-ear”) the Web page so they can return to it
often in order to read real kids’ reviews and recommendations.
They also share their own opinions and create their own reading
wish list—as if it were their own online book club.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Have your students ever wondered why a camel has a hump? Of if
they can really tell the weather by listening to the chirp of a
cricket? Or why their joints make popping sounds? These
questions deal with everyday phenomena that are often taken for
granted, but each can be explained scientifically. Everyday
Mysteries helps students get the answers to these and many
other of life’s most interesting questions through scientific
inquiry.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
|
Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional Timeline
is an online experience highlighting some of the key
dates and events that mark more than 200 years of our
constitutional history. The timeline entries, taken as a
whole, tell the evolving story of the U.S. Constitution
and the continuing role that it plays in our lives.
Visitors can browse through a collection of stories
and headlines—annotated by images,
audio and video clips and interactive
content—to explore some of the people, events and
issues that have shaped the Constitution and the history
of our nation.
Click Here to Visit Web Site |
|
On the American Bar Association’s Web site,
students can show their support for the U.S.
Constitution by adding their signature to those of
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison.
Click Here to Visit Web Site |
The National Football League and the National Dairy
Council (NDC) have partnered in a campaign encouraging
students to eat well and exercise. As part of the marketing
deal, NFL players will visit schools and tout exercise, while
the NDC will give grants to participating schools. The groups
will also create a “playbook” that outlines activity ideas,
such as flag football. This school year, the program will be
launched in about 50 schools in seven test markets. It will
expand to about 40,000 schools in the next few years.
Click Here for More Information About the Campaign
Click Here for Nutrition Tips and Recipes
NetSmartz® Workshop, an Internet safety program of
the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC),
has launched a back-to-school campaign to raise awareness of the
importance of Internet and real-world safety. The new NetSmartz
campaign directs families and educators to the NetSmartz
Back-2-School Kit, a free resource designed to help
instill everyday safety values in children between the ages of 5
and 12. The content includes the high-definition animated
videos Way 2 Go!, Beat the Tricks!, and The Boy
Who Loved IM, which are each accompanied by resources for
educators, parents and guardians, including supplemental
lesson plans, the new NetSmartz Activity Book and
Teachable Recipes.
Click Here to Download Free Resources
Many people are talking about the Democratic and Republican
national convention speeches. The American Rhetoric Web
site provides a way to connect today’s enthusiasm to America’s
speeches of the past. The Web site hosts “The Top 100
Speeches,” which includes the most significant speeches in
American history as decided by leading scholars and compiled by
two prominent researchers in the field. Users can view speeches
by rank or decade, as well as by category, such as speeches by
women. A full-text transcript is available for each
speech and an MP3 audio file is available for most,
providing a fascinating multimedia experience. Which speech, do
you think, is ranked first in importance?
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Encouraging students, teachers and communities to incorporate
sustainability education into the classroom and beyond, the
Siemens Foundation, Discovery Communications and the
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) have
partnered to conduct a comprehensive education initiative. In
September 2008, the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge
will launch with a national middle school competition in which
teams of students will identify an environmental problem in
their community and will research and recommend a reproducible
environmental improvement program. The challenge will expand to
kindergarten and elementary school students in 2009 and to high
school students in 2010, complete with standards-based lesson
plans and teacher materials, student projects
and prizes to foster learning, teamwork and
problem-solving around sustainability.
Deadline: Ongoing; visit the site to sign up
for notification of when the entry period begins.
Click Here for More Information
|
More than 1,000 schools in the United States have
participated in Kids to Kids International (KTKI),
a nonprofit program that fosters communication among
children around the globe. This year, schools are
sending student-created picture books and supplies to
children in Afghanistan and China. The organization’s
Web site includes a world map so children can see
where their books will be sent. Since its founding KTKI
has successfully delivered books to children in mainland
China, war-torn Bosnia, Kosovo, military camps in Russia
and other closed societies. One goal of the program is
to create pathways of understanding in the Middle East.
For more information or to learn how to participate in
Kids to Kids International, visit the organization’s Web
site.
Click Here for More Information
Click Here to Access Interactive World
Map |
|
Plus:
Find a free, downloadable Teacher’s
Manual online. The manual takes you step by step
through the Kids to Kids International Program and
offers many suggestions about how to incorporate KTKI
into your student group.
Click Here to Download Free KTKI Manual |
|
Nortel LearniT offers free, downloadable
lesson plans (with rubrics and teacher
prep time included) that use technology, from creating
an academic digital portfolio to holding a virtual
science fair. For example, your students can make a
Claymation video. The lesson plans include links for
getting started, a detailed student assignment and a
grading guide to assess and evaluate the final product.
The site breaks down lesson plans by technology. For
instance, the Claymation project is part of the section
on video productions. The site also lists the subject
and grade level for each lesson plan.
Click Here for Free Lesson Plans
Click Here for Free Claymation Plan
|
|
This fall, Learning.com is launching a new
technology literacy assessment that will align to
the “refreshed” 2007 ISTE NETS-S standards and will add
portfolio assessment capability. The new technology
literacy assessment will contain the same testing
features as the current versions (including versions for
both elementary and middle schools): a blend of
multiple-choice questions and interactive,
performance-based items, and automatic production of
reports at the district, school, class and student
levels. In addition, the product will report student
proficiency in technology literacy in a standard
state-level report that aggregates assessment data for
students in every district that administers the test.
Click Here to Access Sample Tests and
Reports
The U.S. Department of Education has developed a
publication, Empowering Parents School Box: A Tool
to Equip Parents for the School Year, which it
is distributing to parents free of charge. The
school box contains three booklets (“What Parents
Need to Know,” “Taking a Closer Look” and “Learning
Checklists”); a brochure (Examples of Resources);
a poster (Empowered Parents Stay Involved With
School); a bookmark; and a door hanger.
The school box provides tips on working with children
from birth to high school; guidelines for taking
advantage of free tutoring opportunities; steps for
selecting a high-quality school; ways to get involved in
children’s schools; information about financial aid and
scholarships; and resources for improving learning. It
also includes success stories of schools where parent
involvement made a difference.
Click Here to Download Free Parent
Resources
The IRIS Center and the PACER Center have
created an interactive, online module to
support educators in diversifying and improving the
participation of families of special needs students
in school. In the module, a principal and staff
demonstrate how they gain information that helps them
best engage all family members in the education of their
special needs children.
Click Here to Access Free Module
In this Web quest, students discover the Olympic
games for themselves. They go back in time to the
first Olympiad in the year 776 BCE. Their task is to
discover as much as they can about the Olympic games in
ancient Greece. They try to find as many new and unique
facts as possible and then create an Olympic game of
their own.
Click Here to Access Free Web Quest
|
The State Educational Technology Directors
Association (SETDA), representing all 50
states and the District of Columbia, recently
released High-Speed Broadband Access for
All Kids: Breaking through the Barriers.
According to the report, ensuring high-speed
broadband access for all students has become a
critical national issue, especially when
considering the necessity for use of technology
in assessment, accountability, engagement and
preparing students for work and life in the 21st
century. The report identifies the key issues
facing the educational community related to
robust connectivity and recommends how states
and districts can successfully implement
high-speed broadband in their schools. The
report also provides stakeholders and
policymakers with strategies and models for
bringing this critical issue to the national and
state policy level.
Click Here to View Free Report |
|
Plus:
SETDA is making available a wealth of free
content for K–12 educators on Apple’s
iTunes U. Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Utah, along with
school districts, museums and other educational
institutions, are now sharing resources not only
for K–12 educators in their own states, but also
for teachers around the world.
Click Here to Visit iTunes U |
NGAkids’ BRUSHster is an interactive
painting machine that creates abstract art. Students
can express themselves by painting colorful
abstractions, or they can use the program to design
their own note cards, wrapping paper or screensaver art.
The program has 40 brushes and 24 special effects, plus
there’s an AUTO button that makes BRUSHster fun for all
ages.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
20Q.net is as an online game where users
log onto the Web site and play against an artificial
intelligence (AI) foe. Players think of an animal,
vegetable, mineral or other object, and 20Q guesses what
the player is thinking in 20 questions or fewer. The
more people play, the more the game “learns.”
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Teen Ink is a national teen magazine, book
series and Web site devoted to teenage writing and art.
Written by teens for teens, Teen Ink has
published the work of more than 25,000 teens since 1989.
Students can enter the Teen Ink Interview
Contest and win an opportunity to interview a
celebrity. Contest winners are selected throughout the
year. Previous celebrity interviews include Pedro
Martinez, Colin Powell, Maya Angelou, R. L. Stine,
George Lucas, Whoopi Goldberg, John Glenn, Andrew Shue,
Hillary Clinton and Jesse Jackson. Upcoming celebrity
interviews include Alicia Keys, Martin Sheen and others.
Interviews are featured monthly in Teen Ink
magazine and online, where students can view previous
celebrity interviews.
Deadline: Ongoing; entries are accepted
and published throughout the year
Click Here for More Information
The World of Escher Tessellation Contest gives
students an audience for their tessellation drawing
talents. Pictures must model the symmetry artworks of M.
C. Escher and can make use of watercolor, colored
pencils, pen and ink, marker or computer-generated
mediums. Submissions must be in .jpg format. The top 50
winners will be posted in the Hall of Fame on the Escher
Web site. The top winner in each contest will receive a
prize from the online store.
Deadline: Ongoing; see Web site for
current contest
http://www.worldofescher.com/contest/
Nortel LearniT offers free,
educator-created and classroom-tested technology
tutorials for teachers and students. These short
videos (about four minutes each) are a quick way to
get up to speed in specific technology concepts. The
videos provide the basic “getting started” steps and
concrete examples, and are ideal for individual learning
or use in a classroom setting. Topics include Creating
Objects in Flash; Digital Audio; Digital Ethics;
Discovering the Internet; Imaging; Networks to Knowledge
(N2K); Online Safety; PowerPoint Presentations; Video
Production; and Web Content Creation.
Click Here to Access Free Tutorials
|
Tabula Digita has released a new version
of the educational video game Math Evolver:
Virus Origin, which teaches
pre-algebra skills. This engaging math
program has an ESRB Rating of E10+ (Everyone
10+) for mild fantasy violence and is suitable
for children in grades 6–9. The game captivates
students with exciting visuals and first-person
action adventures while incorporating key
algebraic concepts. The contemporary simulation
format features high-end 3-D graphics, sound,
animation and storylines comparable to those
found in most popular video games. But the math
game offers far more than action-packed
entertainment: the five missions embed
lessons aligned with the standards of the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
and adhere to learning research in the areas of
math and gaming.
Click Here for More Information |
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Beginning this fall, Operation: Resilient
Planet, the new ecology curriculum unit
from The JASON Project, will transport
students to Earth’s critical ecosystems to
investigate nature’s strategies for
regeneration, learn ecosystem management and
understand their responsibility for protecting
our ecological future. Available in print and
free online editions, this curriculum unit
is designed to fit within the core curricula for
grades 5–10 and can be adapted for use at higher
or lower levels. Each unit is aligned to state
and national science standards and provides at
least five to nine weeks of classroom material
with suggested lesson plans, extensions,
interdisciplinary connections and teacher
resources for alignment, assessment and
classroom management.
Click Here to Join Free
Expedition |
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The National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) has announced that a second round of
applications for Picturing America will
be accepted online through October 31, 2008.
Picturing America is a free educational
resource that helps teach American history and
culture by bringing some of our nation’s
greatest works of art directly to classrooms and
libraries. At no cost, recipients will
receive a set of large, high-quality
reproductions of 40 pieces of great American art
as well as an illustrated teachers
resource book with information about the
artists and artwork and lesson ideas for all
grade levels to facilitate the use of the
reproductions in core subject areas. Delivery of
these materials is scheduled for spring 2009.
Additional educational resources are also
available through the Picturing America Web
site.
Click Here to Visit Web Site |
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In an effort to support the work that states are
doing to help local education agencies increase
the participation and completion of students in
nontraditional CTE programs, the National
Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE)
Education Foundation, in partnership with
Career Communications, Inc., has
developed a Parent Edition of the
American Careers magazine that is
focused on nontraditional careers. The magazine
profiles nontraditional role models and includes
information about nontraditional careers,
wage-earning potential and economic
self-sufficiency. A section on getting started,
exploring careers and planning for the future is
organized around 16 career clusters and
pathways. The publication includes a 9th- to
16th-grade career planner applicable to high
school and community college populations.
Click Here for More Information |
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The ToolKit for Hispanic Families,
provided free of charge by the U.S.
Department of Education, helps the parents
of Hispanic American children navigate the
education system. The toolkit, written in
Spanish, was developed with guidance from
more than 1,800 Hispanic parents at Parent
Information and Resource Centers across the
country. The toolkit contains brochures titled
“You and Your Elementary School-Aged Child”; “A
Challenging High School Education for All”; “You
and Your Preschool Child”; “Tips for Helping
Children Learn to Read”; “School Success for
Your Child”; “No Child Left Behind: Help for
Students and Their Families.”
Click Here to Download Free
ToolKit |
On the first or second day of school, give your students
this First-Day Quiz. The activity shows that we
all need to be aware of directions—no matter how old we
are!
Click Here to Access Quiz
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The Journey North program engages
students in a global study of wildlife
migration and seasonal change.
Students share field observations with
classmates across North America. They track the
coming of spring through the migration patterns
of monarch butterflies, bald eagles, robins,
hummingbirds, whooping cranes, gray whales and
other birds and mammals. Students also monitor
the budding of plants, changing sunlight and
other natural events. Since the program is based
on seasonal changes, the standards-based
lessons focus on southern migration in the
fall and winter and northern migration in the
spring and summer. For almost all the lessons,
there is a reading–writing connection.
Teachers must register to take part in the
program, but registration is free.
Click Here to Visit Web Site |
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Lockheed Martin, the Space Foundation
and SpaceClass have launched a strategic
online education collaboration called Orion’s
Path. The interactive virtual classroom
project will form a link between teachers,
students and NASA’s human space exploration
program known as Constellation. Orion’s
Path is an interactive lesson on SpaceClass, a
Web-based education program using videos and
virtual science labs to engage students in
research being conducted for space exploration.
Lesson content meets national learning standards
for middle school grades, and use of the site is
free to teachers.
Click Here to Visit Web Site |
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A new, cost-free Web-based
role-playing game aims to help students and
adults learn more about the culture and
languages of China. Called Zon/New Chengo,
the multiplayer game was created by Yong Zhao,
Michigan State University distinguished
professor of educational psychology and
technology. A native of a poor, remote area of
the Sichuan Province, he has become a highly
influential researcher in Chinese education. The
goal for the player is to fare well and advance
socially and economically, with players moving
from “tourists” to “residents” and finally to
“citizens” of modern China. At the different
stages, players encounter quests, have access to
learning materials—including live Chinese
tutors—and are able to organize and participate
in social activities.
Click Here to Visit Web Site |
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As more Americans turn their attention to the
race for the White House, an online learning
game lets players call the political shots in
presidential campaigning. The 2008
eLECTIONS: Your Adventure in Politics game
was recently released by Cable in the
Classroom (CIC). This free 3-D,
high-speed broadband adventure uses interactive
tools, allowing children and adults to
experience a self-directed run for the U.S.
Presidency. The game is designed to educate
people about the political process and the power
of one vote.
Click Here to Start Your Campaign
Journey |
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Information currently being processed in our
minds is temporarily stored in what cognitive
psychologists refer to as short-term memory. It
is theorized that on average humans can store up
to seven items in their short-term memory. But
by grouping pieces of information together, we
can greatly increase our memory’s capacity. Play
this game from National Geographic
to test the capacity of your memory.
Click Here to Play Game |
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Famous
People, Fabulous Teachers Posters celebrating the
campaign "Behind every famous person is a fabulous teacher" are
available free, while supplies last. Celebrities featured
in the campaign include rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, actress
America Ferrara and actor Tony Shalhoub. To view celebs
with their reachers, log on to
www.teacherscount.org/campaign . To receive a poster
free while supplies last, send an email to
info@teacherscount.org
.
Can you Access me Now? Verizon Foundation has updagted
and redesigned
www.thinkfinity.org. Through this website teachers
receive quick, easy access to more than 55,000 free educational
resources all aligned to national standards and created by
educational leaders such as the Smithsonian. The
redesigned website includes meeting individual state standards,
including New York.
Scholastic
Printables™ offers all of your favorite teaching resources
in one place! With more than 10,000 reproducibles, clip art
images, and Leveled Learning Packs to choose from, you are well
on your way to enhancing your classroom instruction activities
and reaching every student. Visit
Scholastic Printables™ to learn more.
Students can save the planet Helios from ecological disaster and
SmogGobs in
PowerUp, a free
online game that draws an
emotional connection to ecological awareness. The
three-dimensional game, from IBM’s
TryScience initiative, is
designed to engage students in learning about engineering and
energy while trying to supply solar, wind and water power before
an ecological disaster hits.
PowerUp offers classroom
lesson plans that cover energy transformation, as well as
an interactive module so
students learn about the technologies required to build virtual
worlds.
Click Here to Download Free Game
RedZeeTM is a free kid-friendly Web
browser intended to assure parents of early readers that
their little one’s search for, say, a unicorn image brings up
only G-rated sites. Results are presented like a fan with images
of each screen, so children can scroll through and click on the
site that offers the closest match.
Click Here to Access Free RedZee Browser
Plus: Another new kid-friendly technology is the
ZAC browser. ZAC (Zone for Autistic Children)
is developed specifically for children with autism and
autism-spectrum disorders. It allows the child to interact
with and play the many games and activities, as well as
experience independence using it. ZAC also offers a forum
for teachers, parents and caretakers to share resources.
Click Here to Access Free ZAC Browser
Google Maps has launched
a new feature that shows photos,
videos and
maps that people have
created about different locations around the world. After typing
in a city or address, you’ll find a new “Explore
this area” link near the top left. Clicking on that link
brings up thumbnails of photos and videos with links to more of
each, as well as custom maps for that location.
Click Here for More Information
Exploring the Real Thing Web site supports the
National Park Service’s strategic plan by providing teachers
with information on curriculum-based programs and materials
offered by national parks in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Find a Program function of the Web site includes a
description of each park, as well as detailed information about
specific education programs offered by each park. The
Resources section of the site allows you to search for
curriculum-based programs related to a specific park. You
can also search for resources related to a particular subject
area (History/Social Science; English Language Arts; Math;
Creative and Visual Arts; Science/Technology) or of a
particular type (Books; Web Sites; Magazines; Journals;
Photos).
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Plus: Tap into the environmental resources in
this educational reading list compiled by the National
Park Service.
Click Here to Access Free Reading List
Grant-Writing Tips and
Resources
The U.S. Department of Education’s Forecast of Funding
lists virtually
all programs and competitions
under which the Department of Education
has invited or expects to invite applications for new awards for
fiscal year
2008 and provides actual or estimated deadline dates for the
transmittal
of applications under these programs. The lists are in the form
of charts
organized according to the department’s principal program
offices. Also
included are previously announced programs and competitions as
well as
those planned for announcement at a later date.
Web:
http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/find/edlite-forecast.html
Plus: Join the EDInfo mailing list
and receive one to two emails a week
describing news and funding opportunities as well as teaching
and learning
resources from the federal government.
Web:
http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/edinfo/index.html
Microsoft’s
Imagine Cup encourages
young people to apply their imagination, their passion and their
creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference
in the world. Open to students around the world, the Imagine
competition spans a year, beginning with local, regional and
online contests whose winners go on to attend the global finals
held in a different location every year. Students compete in
nine categories, known as invitationals, which include
Software Design,
Embedded Development,
Game Development,
Short Film,
Photography,
Interface Design,
Information Technology
(IT), Algorithm and
Project Hoshimi Programming
Battle. Special award challenges were also offered in
2008, which enable students to focus on developing skills in a
specific technology: The Software Design Windows Live Award, the
Software Design Interoperability Award and the Interface Design
Accessible Technology Award.
Deadline: Sign up online to get information on
the upcoming 2009 competition.
Click Here for More Information
Great Ideas for Better Book Reports
from EducationWorld.com
Tired of the same
old, same old formats for book reports? Here are twenty
great ideas to help add spice to the book-report life!
http://www.nea.org/lessons/2003/tt030707.html
This new site from Consumers Union evaluates approximately 3,000
hospitals nationwide. View graphs that rate the intensity of care
provided by the facilities from the most conservative treatment to the
most aggressive treatment, including time spent in the hospital, number
of physician visits and average out-of-pocket costs for nine serious
medical conditions, including cancer and heart failure, treated during
the last two years of life.
www.consumerreports.org/health/doctors-and-hospitals/hospital-home.htm
Take advantage of “gardening
moments” with your kids every week in your own backyard
and front yard and in the garage and at the windowsill and in
the basement ... Through the seasons, there are big
projects and little
opportunities for gardening
with kids that can fit seamlessly into your life. The
National Gardening Association’s
free downloadable primer
will help you learn to recognize those opportunities and turn
your kids’ questions into fun discoveries.
Click Here to Access Free Gardening Resource
If you think your brain and memory are dulling down,
head to SharpBrain’s
teasers and
challenge yourself. This
free site offers
50 fun ways to give your brain an entertaining workout.
And as a bonus, you can read all about what actually
makes your brain work.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
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Exploratorium Online
features dozens of
online learning activities and
exhibits. Make a
mold terrarium, pinhole projector, telescope or hair
hygrometer. Explore the brain, biodiversity, Antarctica,
DNA, frogs, structures or illusions. Learn about
magnetism, electricity, motors, eyeballs, perception,
Mars, chocolate, seasonings or the science of cooking,
sports and music. Search more than 3,000
photos and
movies and watch
Webcasts of
science demonstrations
by teachers.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
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MakeBeliefsComix
is an online educational
comic generator for all ages. You can use it to
help children and adults share their ideas or as a
therapy tool to help the deaf and the autistic
communicate. You can also use it as a resource to
encourage writing skills and to practice vocabulary or
storytelling skills. The comic strip comes together at
this site, where children choose a human or animal
character, pick a mood and then fill in a talk or
thought balloon (in
English or
Spanish).
Click Here to Visit Web Site
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A new Web site, The
Dr. Seuss Story
Maker, leads students through several steps
to create a dialogue between two Dr. Seuss
characters. This particular aspect of the site could
be helpful for English language learners in
practicing English. In addition, the site includes a
host of other fun activities.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
How does a comic strip upgrade to Web 2.0? Scott
Adams and United Media are now inviting fans to the
Dilbert site for a series of new interactive
features. The three-pronged approach, called “mashups,”
gives readers the ability to
create their own
versions of Dilbert
strips. The first, known as “punch line,”
allows readers to write their own ending to an
original Dilbert
comic, adding new words to the drawing for the last
frame of the strip. A second feature, coming in May,
will allow readers to add their own words to an
entire strip. And a third feature, also coming in
May, will allow fans to write the dialogue for a
single panel of a
Dilbert strip and then share it with others,
who will then write for the remaining panels. (Adams
himself is expected to randomly write dialogue for
strips.) The site will also offer access to
animated versions
of existing Dilbert
strips, as well as
free access to the
Dilbert
archives (for
now just back to 2001, and later, to the cartoon’s
entire history).
Click Here to Visit Web Site
The new
Newseum, which opened in Washington,
D.C., in April, traces the development of
news over time and shows how technological
advances—from line art in newspapers to TV
helicopters to the Internet—have changed the
way news is delivered and presented.
Visitors to the Newseum’s Web site can take
a cool 3-D
tour of the new museum, view more
than 500 front pages of
newspapers
from around the world and play the
online
trivia game NewsMania.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
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Recently the
Library
of Congress opened a new exhibit,
called the
Library
of Congress Experience, at its
historic Thomas Jefferson Building in
Washington, D.C.—and online at a new Web
site,
MyLOC.gov. Visitors to the
exhibit are able to “flip” through books
from Thomas Jefferson’s vast library,
learn about the ornate artwork that
adorns the Library’s Great Hall and view
how founding documents, such as the
Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution, morphed from draft to
draft.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
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Updated May 2008
The Most Terrifying Video You'll
Ever See
Oregon science teacher Greg Craven
became an Internet sensation when his YouTube video on climate
change—"The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See"—went viral last
summer.
Millions viewed it and thousands
left comments, prompting Craven to spend his entire summer on part
two. The result, "How It All Ends," was what Craven calls his
"Magnum Opus and midlife crisis and nervous breakdown."
"Global climate change is one of the
driving forces of my teaching career," says Craven. And now, with a
global classroom, he's sounding the alarm to millions of people
around the world.
"It's amazing how one schmo can post
a video, and days later five million people can watch it—it starts
with a few, and grows exponentially in a nonlinear way," Craven
says. "Climate change shares that characteristic. When you cross a
tipping point, it causes extreme agitation."
Ready for a good scare?
www.nea.org/neatoday/0805/terrifyingvideo.html
Abe's Big
Makeover
The redesigned
$5 is the latest addition to the public education program offered
online through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Federal
Reserve Board. Go to
www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney for free educational materials for
parents, teachers and students. Materials, which have been
designed to educate audiences about the bills, include interactive
animations of each bill and its security features as well as
educational posters on the new color of money.
The Subject
was Bullies
The National
Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center has complied several
online resources to help parents become strong partners in the fight
against school bullying. Included on the site is information
on bullying warning signs, facts about the scope of the problem,
specific tips for parents whose children are either being bullied or
are bullying others. The information is available at
www.safeyouth.org. Select "Bullying" from the list of
topics.
Students can
sharpen their reading skills over the summer-while helping less
fortunate children do the same-by participating in Scholastic's
Summer Reading Buzz. At the site,
www.scholastic.com/buzz
, students can sign up and start a reading log. For every 4
books a child reads and logs online, Scholastic will donate a book
to Room to Read, a growing nonprofit organization that establishes
libraries and schools in underprivileged communities in the
developing world. Other activities include summer reading
motivation, author Q&A, e-cards and "Buzz Boards" where kids can
connect and talk about the books they are reading.
Updated April 2008
Council brings speakers to school
The New York Council for
the Humanities Speakers in the Schools program offers free lectures
by leading scholars on a wide variety of humanities subjects for
high school students across New York State. The council covers
the speaker's honorarium and travel expenses. Visit
www.nyhumanities.org
for more info.
Sign up at The
Big Deal Book Web site for
hELLo!, a
free
monthly ELL e-newsletter that
includes information about new grants, upcoming contests, the latest
educational research and a wealth of information on interactive
print and online resources for students, teachers, librarians,
principals and others involved in the education of English language
learners.
Click Here to Sign Up for Free Newsletter
Rand McNally Classroom
contains more than 1,800 reference, special topic and history maps
that can be printed, viewed and saved. The site’s new
interactive history maps and
its numerous interactive games
and activities will engage
your students, while the lesson
plans and assessments
will help you implement all the site has to offer. A
correlation search tool shows
you how the site’s content aligns with your state standards and how
to integrate the site’s features across the curriculum in reading,
math, science and social studies. Special features include weekly
current events articles and discussion questions, as well as daily
“Where in the World?” photo features.
In addition, “Traveling Teddies”
photos and postcards
describe places in the world where a traveling bear has visited, and
“Ask the Geography Sleuths”
gives students the opportunity to submit their geography questions
to Rand McNally’s resident experts. Rand McNally Classroom is a 2008
CODIE Award finalist.
Click Here for More Information and Free Trial
A set of illustrated stories from
MyYoungChild.org attempts to address issues (sharing, dealing
with bullies, respecting others and taking responsibility for
actions) that children face every day. The
free
online stories are intended
to be an enjoyable and playful tool that can be used to teach social
values. Accompanying each story are
discussion questions and
activities as well as parent tips designed to complement the
story’s message and reinforce the impact. The nine stories include
“Rosa the Rabbit Learns to Be Fair,” “Ramon Sticks Up for Himself”
and “Gilbert the Goat Learns Respect.”
Click Here to Access Free Online Stories
Updated March 2008
Can-Do Children
CVS Caremark and Scholastic
have partnered to launch the All Kids Can Learn Program, a $25
million commitment to support children with disabilities. The
centerpiece of the program is the All Kids Can Learn Teacher's
Guide. There are also companion take home activities.
Teachers can request a copy of the curriculum by sending an email to
communitymailbox@cvs.com
.
NEXT STOP:
DECISION 2008 Middle
and high school teachers and their
students can get a unique view of the
upcoming political season by hopping
aboard C-SPAN's Campaign 2008 Road to
the White House tour bus.
This
state-of-the-art TV production facility
gives students and teachers in grades
6-12 a firsthand look at how political
programming is produced for the 2008
elections. The bus also reaches out to
first-time voters and university
students nationwide as part of C-SPAN's
ongoing efforts to boost interest and
involvement in the political process.
Additionally, the rolling studio serves
as a mobile classroom for educator
seminars at schools and at social
studies conferences. Visit
www.Campaign2008Bus.org to request a
visit or to check out the bus schedule.
Other
C-SPAN resources also are just a click
away.
Visit
www.C-SpanClassroom.org for an
expanded lineup of discussion questions,
downloadable video clips and other
materials to help make civics lessons
sparkle during the 2008 presidential
campaign. Materials are updated each
week with new downloadable video clips
of candidate speeches, political rallies
and other events.
Staying Safe in Cyberspace
"PointSmart. ClickSafe." is a new
multimedia initiative coordinated by the
National Cable Telecommunications
Association (NCTA) and Cable in the
Classroom (CIC) to help families and
children make appropriate choices and
stay safe while using the Internet. The
cornerstone of the effort,
www.PointSmartClickSafe.org,
provides a variety of
materials—including an online
"guidebook" and video vignettes—offering
simple instructions, tips, and scenarios
that can help parents and caregivers
teach children to make good choices
about Internet use. Educators may also
find much of the site's information
helpful.
Calling all space cadets
Never got to go to space camp? You could
be one of the 200 educators from around
the world who participate in the
Honeywell Education at Space Academy
programs. Applicants must submit a
500-word essay describing the tools and
techniques they use to motivate students
to study science-related fields and
purse technology-related careers.
During a free, five-day trip to the U.S.
Space and Rocket Center at Huntsville,
Ala., scholarship winners undergo
astronaut-training exercises, including
a high-performance jet simulation,
scenario-based space missions, and land
and water survival training. To
apply, log on to
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