Sunday, May 29, 2011

DonorsChoose.org

http://www.donorschoose.org/
I get stopped all the time by teachers asking where can they apply for a small grant for their classroom. It's no secret that nationally, teachers spend ~$40/month on stuff for their classrooms. DonorsChoose is a nonprofit web site that connects classroom teachers with a partner.  The partner could be an individual, a small group or a business.  The teacher fills out a project form along with a wish list of materials.  The site is certainly worthy of a look.

Search Google sites by readability

Thanks to MaryMargaret [Hartland] for this great find.  Imagine searching Google sites with the added bonus of looking for specific reading levels.  This page instructs you how to use the Advance Google search tool to annotate 'hits" with basic, intermediate or advanced reading levels.  [You'll have to be the judge of those subjective terms.]  


http://www.twurdy.com/index.php
The site also mentions a few other Google specific search refinements, including TWURDY.  This tool [much slower than the typical Google search] brings back results using it's own algorithm...which of course is different than the Fry or the Flesch-Kincaid but still easy to understand.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Three wonderful sites suggested by Hartland teachers

Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 7,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read, and earn points and prizes (provided by the teacher) for their literary successes.. 

Hooda Math can be used in a number of ways. Our online math games can be used for computer lab activities with/without our free math worksheets. Our math games can also be used with your interactive whiteboards, check out our Interactive White Board Games page.  A classroom teacher favorite is our free online math tool, Math Timed Tests that emails individual reports back to teachers and students. 

Have you been to the Kahn Academy lately?

http://www.khanacademy.org/
In addition to the thousands of videos covering multiple subject areas, Kahn now has student practice areas in math from basic addition through high school math.  The practice areas can be used individually for reenforcement  or with a Smartboard as a great warm up or end of class activity.  The site is free but requires that the user have either a Google or Facebook account.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Geography warm ups for middle school

Thanks to Hartland's Nick Wolfe for these two sites:  

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/map-puzzles.htm
Free interactive map quizzes and map games to learn continents, countries, states, capitals, borders, physical features and cultural monuments.


http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/


More interactive maps to Test your Geography Knowledge 

Both of these sites will work well on Smartboards...




Friday, May 20, 2011

Free online tools to use primary source documents

PrimaryAccess is a suite of free online tools that allows students and teachers to use primary source documents to complete meaningful and compelling learning activities with digital movies, storyboards, rebus stories and other online tools.  
The tools include a movie maker, a storyboard and a very cool rebus maker.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Facebook - 7.5 Million Users Under 13 Years Old

By Brian Womack - May 10, 2011 11:59 AM ET, Consumer Reports
           Facebook Inc., the world’s most popular social-networking service, had 7.5 million U.S. users who were younger than 13 in the past year, a violation of the site’s policies, according to a survey by Consumer Reports.
More than 5 million of the users were under age 11, according to the Consumer Reports “State of the Net” survey. In addition, Facebook exposed more than 5 million U.S. households to some type of “abuse,” including virus infections and identity theft, the survey showed. About 1 million children experienced bullying on the site, Consumer Reports said.
“Despite Facebook’s age requirements, many kids are using the site who shouldn’t be,” said Jeff Fox, technology editor for the Yonkers, New York, magazine. “What’s even more troubling was the finding from our survey that indicated that a majority of parents of kids 10 and under seemed largely unconcerned by their children’s use of the site.”
Facebook requires users to be at least 13 -- and older in some jurisdictions. 

Monday, May 16, 2011

Last flight of Space Shuttle Endeavor

You can watch videos of the launch and get pertinent information about the flight.   NASA has created a Google Earth file that tracks the shuttle in real time.  You can now track the space shuttle during launch and landing in Google Earth using real-time data from Mission Control.   Once you are on that track page, scroll down to "live groundtrack file here" to track the shuttle in real-time as it circles the Earth.

I took this screen shot from the Google Earth "tracking" file as Endeavor flew over Hawaii. (1:29 EST, Monday, 5.16.11)

Internet Archive; free historical texts

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages in our collections, and provides specialized services for adaptive reading and information access for the blind and other persons with disabilities. 


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

K-2 interactive math sites

Here's a file with a few wonderful interactive math sites targeted at K-2.  They work equally well with a Smartboard for group interaction or for individual students in a lab.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

USGS Shakemap of Japan Earthquake

Just released from the US Geological Survey is a shakemap of Japan.  A shakemap actually details the amount of earth movement (or shaking intensity) felt across the island.  This interactive Google Earth file will give your students a good indication of how severe the quake was.  (I've added a yellow pushpin to the USGS map, to indicate the location of the damaged nuclear reactors.  The Google Earth file was developed after the tsunami hit but before the the fires or explosions at the powerplants.)

Friday, May 6, 2011

DocuWatch! - streaming videos for 9-12



On this site you will find hundreds of free streaming videos (many produced by the BBC and PBS) that are appropriate for high school students.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Are your students asking questions about the CIA?


With recent events in Pakistan, have your students been asking questions about our intelligence agencies?  The CIA has a site developed for students.  It's divided into two segments, one for K-5 and another area for older students.  The FBI has a similar site.

This Day in History?


What event of significance happened today?  You need only to travel to History.com and watch a short video.  there are links with videos, pictures to germane stories.

Another place to investigate is the Library of Congress which has a section devoted to today in history with primary source material.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Tell Congress to keep our Schools Technologically Competitive!

It has never been more important than RIGHT NOW to show your support for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, the sole source of federal funding for education technology in our nation's schools. On April 14th, 2011 Congress voted to eliminate the EETT program in the FY 2011 budget, despite our schools' growing need for continuous investment in technology and professional development.

As Congress begins to consider funding in the 2012 budget we need your help now more than ever! Please let your leaders know about the vital services EETT provides to our teachers and our children. Send a letter to your representatives today asking them to fund the EETT program at $100 million in FY 2012 so that teachers have the tools they need to help our children succeed in the classroom.

Use this link to email your Congressional members today and ask them to restore funding of the EETT program to $100 million in the FY 2012 budget!