New Arrivals

Just in and donated.  Thank you.

click for a title peek

click for a title peek

click for a title peek

The New Canadian Family

From TVO's The Agenda, Steve Paikin took a look at the 2011 Canadian Census Data.    Here is his findings in an infographic.


A 40 minute video of The Agenda can be found by clicking here.

First World Problems

Does this hit to close to home for some of you or your students.  Nice video to show and it is only a minute long.

7 jours sur la planete

I noticed the app, "7 jours sur la planete".  It costs $4.99 and it is supposed to help you learn French by watching TV5 where according to Itunes they have "3 reports each week to hear the specific vocabulary used in televised news reports, and read their transcripts to discover how these words are used in context".

However for free one can view the interactive exercises on  TV5MONDE  that is provided to all French learners.  Just click here.

Also on TV5's website I noticed another part called Destination Francophonie where they feature weekly a different destination about how alive and vibrant it's French language is.  It also ends each show with what major Francophone events are happening in the world that week.  To see this click here.
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Hip Hughes History - Monotheism & Polytheism

Monotheism & Polytheism from Keith Hughes, a history teacher at  a high school in Buffalo New York.

These are short upbeat lectures.  I have provided 2 below on Polytheism but he has a Youtube channel with many world history lectures.

Three Day Road

Another donation is in the library, Three Day Road.  This is a novel written by Canadian Joseph Boyden.

Click here for a title peek

Creating Polynomial Quilts

Quilting and Math, nice.  Here is a website that has some lessons plans on  expanding the square of a binomial.  Take a look by clicking here.

Spring Training 2013 edition of SI now in

QR codes

We have all seen those funny little 2 dimensional bar codes like this one called QR codes.

This one should bring you to this page.  QR is an acronym for Quick Response.  QR codes are a convenient way to store URLs  better known as web addresses. Most students have phones that have a QR reader app on them.  If not they can get one for free by clicking here for an Iphone app. Others such as I-nigma Reader, Kaywa or NeoReader can be found by clicking on their name.  Now these QR codes can  easily be made by a student or teacher.    I will suggest some sites in a moment.  What I would like to discuss is how they can be used in an educational setting.

As a teacher
1) If you put your assignments on line you can give your students a sticky with the QR code on them and they can put that in their agenda.  If you have a classroom blog, wiki or website post a QR code for it on your bulletin board.
2) If you want a quick way for the students to view a video but do not have a smart board or projector in your room you can post a QR code on a bulletin board and the students can watch it on their phones.
3) Some teachers augment their texts books by putting stickies in the right spots to lead them to appropriate websites or videos.
4) On research assignments you may want to put a QR code on it to get students to reputable starting points other than Google or Wikipedia.  Maybe a database such as Elibrary Canada.  See Mr. H for help with the database.
5) You could have a QR Scavenger Hunt as explained by the following history link.
6) If your students are doing digital projects and you would like to showcase them on a bulletin board in the hallway or just in your classroom, you can post a QR code directed to each students work.
7) On math work sheets you can add QR codes to video tutorials from Khan Academy or other sites to help students out.
8) There are many more things that can be done with QR codes.  Play around.

As a student
1)  A QR code can bridge the physical assignment you turn in or posted on the black board with the virtual work you have done.  Maybe you shot a video  and posted it on youtube or you made a glog (see glogster.com) to go along with your project to document it.  Place a QR next to your work and students and teachers can share in your digital work.   My daughter just finished her science fair project and she added a QR code to show how she used some software to make a graph.

Here is a closeup of the QR code

2) If students are doing a video for class, students can review other students work if they are posted around the class.  Rather than just watching a video the whole class.  Students can preview the work in progress and make constructive criticism.
3) If students have their art work posted in the hall, maybe a QR code linking a Youtube video of the student discussing their artwork.


To make a QR code.

There are many QR code generators.  If you would like to make the Scavenger/Treasure Hunt as noted in 5 above you can go here.  If you would like to make basic QR codes for a URL such as YouTube or your own blog then use      

 

by clicking  here.  You can use other QR code makers such as Kawaya by clicking here.  You may want to change the colour of the QR codes from black and white to another colour so that you have your codes colour coded for courses.  This can be done on QRstuff.com in step 3.  Just move the cross hair around the colour palette to select a different foreground colour.

If you would like to personalize any of your QR codes you can go here and add any photo you have on your computer to the QR code.  Here is an example I did for a new arrival in the library that gives a "title peek" of the book.

You can do this by  going to visualead or clicking here.

The Stock Market Game

I remember back in the day playing the stock market game.  We had a fictional amount of money and had to invest it.  With the stock markets all being online things are now much easier.

click here to go to website

This looks great for business educators as everything including lesson plans are available for you.  The teachers guide for the game can be found in pdf form by clicking here.  They have 13 great ideas on how to make this a fun activity, like inviting in a broker or financial advisor to make a presentation to your students.

Centripetal Acceleration and the Circus

The PBS website has  a nice teacher lesson plan and resource on centripetal acceleration.  They have a nice video of a horse and rider going around in circles and a clown discussing the physics.

Watch Circus Physics: Centripetal Acceleration on PBS. See more from pbs.

You can find the lesson plan and the rest by clicking here.

Some New Arrivals

Here are a couple of donated novels.  We will gladly take any good quality, age appropriate novels.  Just see Mr. H if you have any questions.

Click here for a title peek

Click here for a title peek

Scholastic Journalism Week Is February 17-23

Scholastic Journalism Week Is February 17-23
Free access to journal articles mentioned below are provided for 21 days. The following links from NCTE and ReadWriteThink.org provide resources on working with journalism students and other students as they write with an authentic audience in mind.  They are sponsored by the Journalism Education Association.

Add caption

The ReadWriteThink.org Printing Press is a great way to support students in writing for authentic purposes. Teachers and students can choose from several templates to publish class newspapers, informational brochures, and fliers announcing class events.

As teens spend more time online, we may ask how our language arts curricula can help them become savvy technology users.  Two teachers describe their experience in "Finding Our Way: Eighth Graders Explore Social Networking Sites."

"Jumping into Journalism: Help with School Publications" provides suggestions, strategies, and tips for teachers who take on a supplemental role on a school publication.

"Using Journalism Writing to Improve College Composition" details a first-year college composition course that blends journalism instruction with first-year composition and describes how students learn about news gathering and news writing techniques common to feature writing and then complete a profile writing project.

Mike Rose encourages teachers to think and write like journalists about what they see and do in their classrooms. He thinks teachers' voices need to be a part of the public discussion of education as he explains in "Observing Classrooms: What Journalists and Teachers Might Have in Common."

Killer Asteroid

Are we going to die?  I don't think so.  Even though a meteorite exploded over Russia (click here and here ) I think we are okay with Asteroid 2012 DA14. It will be close but no cigar.  If you are interested with this topic for your class or self click on the links below.

click here

click here

click here

Problem Attic

If you would like to make practice or review tests in Math, Science, Social Science or English you may want to check out Problem Attic.  They have  standardized test questions from 17 states assessments  including the New York Regents.

Browse through Problem Attic to select your questions then arrange them in the order you want.  Before printing you can select the page formatting and you are done.   You may just want to browse through NY Regents for some essay prompts.  The site can be found by clicking here.  Go to "take the tour".

National Gallery of Art Classroom, Washington DC

From the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, check out the following webpage that has online interactive lesson units

click here to go to their website

Note that there are more resources if you cursor down the page of their website.

Classroom Resources for the War of 1812

Yes I know there is an American slant to this website but there still is much material that could be used in class.  You can filter the resources by type of resource, grade level or keyword.  To check this website click here.

You may also want to look at what the government of Canada has produced by clicking here.

News in Review January 2013 edition

We just received the January 2013 edition of the CBC News in Review.

In this issue we have the following:

BC Earthquake (Length 16:06)
On a quiet Saturday evening in the fall of 2012, the coast of British Columbia was rocked by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. Though no lives were lost and little damage was reported, the quake did reveal weakness in Canada's emergency preparedness.

Rob Ford: Toronto’s Controversial Mayor (Length: 15:22)
Rob Ford was elected Mayor of Toronto in the fall of 2010. Just halfway through his term, a judge ordered him removed from office. We look at the highs and lows of his controversial time as mayor.

Eight Days: Israel and Hamas (Length 17:24)

For eight violent days in 2012, rockets and missiles were launched over the Israel-Gaza border. It was the most serious violence between Israel and Hamas in years. CBC reporters entered the zone to try and understand the viewpoints of both sides in the conflict.   

Superstorm Sandy (Length 14:22)

A rare combination of factors resulted in the formation of a "Superstorm" off the east coast of North America. More than 100 people were killed in the U.S. and there was billions of dollars in damage. We follow the storm's progress as it moves towards North America and throughout its destructive wrath.

A few more books in

I forgot to catalogue one more Toni Morrison novel, The Bluest Eyes.

We also had a few more donations at KCI (more donations are always welcomed just see Mr H.):

Mysteries of Vernacular

The following video from Mysteries of Vernacular could serve as a model for your history or language class. You could have your students in groups choose a word that they wondered where it's origin is rooted.  They could then create a short video where they show the historical roots of their chosen word.  They might decide to use Popcorn Maker (see February 8).

click here to go to the website

In this installment they use the word "CLUE"

Nasa gives students a virtual tour of Mars

On Dec 12 2012, the following three organizations: NASA, Discovery Education and i.am.angel foundation (The i.am.angel foundation was launched by will.i.am, a founding member of the musical group the Black Eyed Peas.)  launched a VFT, "virtual field trip"  to Mars.  

As Sean Cavanagh posted on Education Week, "The program will include information presented by scientists and engineers who have worked on the rover project, including Leland Melvin, NASA associate administrator for education and an astronaut, and Dave Lavery, program executive for NASA's solar system exploration and the Curiosity's mission."  

Since I am a Detroit Lion fan (yeah I know), it is of interest that Leland Melvin was drafted by the Lions as a wide receiver before hurting his hamstring and pursuing his post football interest in science.  

The live stream of this VFT can be found by clicking here.

A student activity to go along with this VFT can be found by clicking here.

Music Education Online

This website has many resources that can be found from their drop down menus.  The link to their site can be found by clicking here.

If it were my home

click here to go to website

From the website, "The lottery of birth is responsible for much of who we are. If you were not born in the country you were, what would your life be like? Would you be the same person?"

This site allows you to compare Canada (or any other country) to another country based on many different categories like: chance of dying in infancy, unemployment, consumption of electricity, aids rate and many others.  It also shows a size comparison using Overlapmaps (see December 5, 2012 blog).
The information here would be a great start for making an Infographic (see December 19, 2012 blog) in class.

crossword puzzle maker

I was looking at their site and notice that they have a nice crossword puzzle generator.  Yeah there are many out there on the net but here is another one for you.  They have a few stock puzzles already made up but you can make your own by clicking on the appropriate tab.  To go the generator just click here.

New Arrivals - Toni Morrison x 4

Mrs. Giles has her classes reading "Song of Solomon" by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.  We had a nice donation of 4 Toni Morrison books by the Oklobdzijka Family to fit in with her readings.

In a heartbeat

From

 

In this activity students find the correlation between exercise and heartbeats by using scatter plot graphs. 

Too see the lesson plan click here.

Black History Month

There are many things that can be done to celebrate Black History Month.  Here are some ideas:
1) From Emory University - The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database

This site has interactive timelines and maps for you to look at.  There lesson plans for teachers.  The tables of information could be used in Data Analysis.  The glossary of terms could be used for vocabulary.  To see the website click here.

2) Poetry and art combined. From the Dream Flag Project website, "Inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes and the tradition of Nepalese prayer flags, The Dream Flag Project is an annual poetry, art and community connection opportunity for students of all ages."

 Students write poetry on a small dream flag and combine their own art on them.  They are then hung up in April like Napalese prayer flags.  This could be great for a poetry unit.

You can read the overview by clicking here.  A high school  teacher resource can be found by clicking here.

If anyone is interested in doing this with their class, they can hang them in their classroom or maybe in the library or even the front hallway.

3) The Greensboro Sit-Ins

From the Greensboro-Record

There are many video and audio clips of what happened, on this the 53 anniversary of the sit-ins.  There are links to other civil rights sites.  There is a copy of the newspaper from that day.  To view this site click here.

4)  From PBS Frontline - A Class Divided, one of the most requested films in their history.

From the website, "On the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in April 1968, Jane Elliott's third graders from the small, all-white town of Riceville, Iowa, came to class confused and upset. They recently had made King their "Hero of the Month," and they couldn't understand why someone would kill him. So Elliott decided to teach her class a daring lesson in the meaning of discrimination. She wanted to show her pupils what discrimination feels like, and what it can do to people.

Elliott divided her class by eye color -- those with blue eyes and those with brown. On the first day, the blue-eyed children were told they were smarter, nicer, neater, and better than those with brown eyes. Throughout the day, Elliott praised them and allowed them privileges such as a taking a longer recess and being first in the lunch line. In contrast, the brown-eyed children had to wear collars around their necks and their behavior and performance were criticized and ridiculed by Elliott. On the second day, the roles were reversed and the blue-eyed children were made to feel inferior while the brown eyes were designated the dominant group.

What happened over the course of the unique two-day exercise astonished both students and teacher."

To see the video from the PBS website and read some information about this lesson click here.

5) Held Accountable

A teacher can  choose from among different trends of thought among these lesson plans. One could use this for during Black History observations, or in an English class focused on story telling and personal voice.  The lesson plans are fairly straight forward.  Read the article on the NY Times website and discuss it, etc.

To see the lesson plans click here.

6) From Gale Learning

Gale produces many products for educators and students.  Here on their website they have a resource that includes activities, biographies, featured titles, links, literature,  quiz and timeline.  To go to this site click here.

7)  From CNN

The Road to Equality is a site that has many resources.  You could assign videos or articles from this site and have the students watch/read the material and make glog (see glogster.com) or other type of poster or presentation of their summary.

Click here to see view the website.

8) Negro League Baseball Museum Electronic Resources for Teachers

There is an introductory video discussing the Negro League.  There are many lesson plans and multimedia resources that can be used together by teachers.  To visit this site click here.  Also staying with the baseball idea, check out  the Negro League Baseball Shop.

Even though this a for profit site, there is much material here.  You may even want to buy a shirt.  To see the site click here.

9) And for something closer to home.

For information about Josiah Henson and his contributions to Canadian Black heritage you can look at the website by the Ontario Heritage Trust.  You may want to plan a field trip to Dresden.  You can visit the site by clicking here.