I am a former teacher/librarian at KCI and I will post items that deal with educational apps or items that teachers or students might use in the classroom. This blog may contain affiliate links that earn me a commission at no extra cost to you. If you would like to follow me click on the blue button below please.
If you are having your students blog or are thinking about having your students blog, well here is a link to a great website that has a post with 50 ideas to get you kids going. If you are not blogging with your class but have thought you might someday, the post has a few links on how to get started. To see the post by Kathleen Morris click here.
Richard Byrne posted about these two sources of Art books. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Getty Museum both have virtual collections of free pdf's that can be downloaded and also searched by title, author or keyword. To see the Met's collection click here and to see the Getty's collection click here.
The National Geographic has a nice article online titled, "Why Your Mental Map Of The World Is (Probably) Wrong". According to their article, "These are some of the most common geographic misconceptions that are both surprising and surprisingly hard to correct." For example, "Most of Africa is north of the equator, though on many mental maps it is mostly in the southern hemisphere directly across the Atlantic from South America." To see the article click here.
Glen Weibe suggests asking these questions:
Based on your mental (or actual) map of the world, answer a few simple questions:
How much of South America is east of Miami, Florida?
How much of Africa is north of the equator?
Which city is further north – Paris, France or Montreal, Canada?
Venice, Italy is located at the same latitude of what major American city?
Which is bigger? The lower 48 United States or Brazil?
Glen suggests having your students use "The True Size Of" website for the last question. I have blogged about this map website in March of 2017. To see that post click here.
He also suggests Bouncy Maps which "connect locations with data. Maps become bigger or smaller to show differences in the data." To see Bouncy Maps, click here.
If all your students are finished early and you have nothing for them to do or if you need something for your emergency lesson plan thank Laura Randazzo for these free lessons on her Teachers Pay Teachers website. To see them click here and here.
From Yummy Math, "Just before Thanksgiving there is an annual demonstration at the Winter Palace in the World Financial Center of New York City. Canstruction is a celebration of design, of engineering, and of donating time, talent and food to the hungry. At the end of the exhibit all the amazing creations are dismantled and thousands of cans of food are given to hungry people via soup kitchens, food banks, shelters and senior homes. Canstruction, Inc now has events in over 200 cities worldwide.
Here is a picture of an exhibit called "Downside Up" which was the winning exhibit from Canstruction, 2010, in New York City.
"How many cans does it take to build this structure? What information do you need to determine this? How did you determine your solution? What else did you notice that is mathematical?"
The pdf of the student work sheet can be found by clicking here. The YummyMath link for this activity can be found by clicking here. Note that some of the solution pages will involve you having a membership. Membership to YummyMath is $22 US. Try asking your Principal or Department head if this is a possible for your school.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Worlds Aids Day is December 1st so I thought I would give you a heads up if you would like to do something in your class. Here are some resources you might want to use with your class. "The Evolution of Aids" by the Globe and Mail can be found by clicking here. NBC has an article called "Living With" which can be found by clicking here. HIV and AIDS lessons and activities can be found by clicking here. A "Lesson Plan for World Aids Day" by Channel One News can be found by clicking here. In November 2013 I previously posted about World AIDS Day. To see that post click here.
According to their website, "There is no lack of history resources on the Internet. Historical web sites, blogs, maps, videos, and animations abound. But two things are missing:
A way to tie it all together: text, images, video, audio, historical maps, and animation
A way for anyone to create and share multimedia, animated historical scenarios without having to know programming, graphics, animation, or digital cartography.
History in Motion offers powerful, easy-to-use features so you can create historical scenarios, animate events, share your work with others, and explore history in a way that was never before possible.
If it helps to understand that this was happening here while that was happening there, History in Motion is the tool for you."
To see their website click here. See the video below for an introduction to their website.
If you need to get a base map and annotate it or scribble on it, draw some line etc then this site is for you. Here is what Edshelf has to say about Scribble Maps, "The easiest way to draw and share maps!
We have focused on making a tool that makes it ultra easy to draw on maps, we have polished the user experience using a large amounts of feedback from our users, and we continue to improve on a regular basis. The effort has paid off with Scribble Maps being used in grade school classrooms all the way up to Government agencies. In addition to being able to draw, with Scribble Maps you can:
Add Custom Images / Overlays
Place Text
Place Markers
Create custom widgets
Export to Google My Maps.
Export to Google Earth.
Save as KML/GPX/JPG
Create 3D JPEGs and Widgets
Send Maps to Friends
Print"
To see the website click here. See the video below for a brief explanation of the website.
I know one of our History teachers, Mr. E. has his students make trading cards for his class. This could be done in the English class too. ReadWriteThink has on their website a trading card creator.
According to their website, "The Trading Card tool gives students an alternative way to demonstrate their literacy knowledge and skill when writing about popular culture texts or real world examples. This interactive allows students to create their own trading card about a real or fictional person, place, object, event, or abstract concept.
These cards are can be used with any type of book students are reading or subjects that they are studying, and make for an excellent prewriting exercise for students who are writing narrative stories and need to consider characters, setting, and plot. Specific prompts guide student through the various types of cards, expanding students' thinking from the basic information and description of the topic to making personal connections to the subject."
Last week I posted about BioDigital. To see that post click here. Another site that will allow your students to study the different systems of the body is Build-a-Body. This site is designed for high school students. To see the site click here.
I was reading about News Aggregators. They are like your own personal magazine. You give it a topic and you will be delivered articles on that topic only. As an educator you can put in your subject area and grade level and you will receive articles/blogs on what you you teach. This reminded me of a PD session on Flipboard. To see Flipboard click here. Other News Aggregators are Feedly and News360 amongst others. These can be found by clicking here and here. An article on other ones can be found here.
I have PD on Friday so I will not be posting but will be back on Monday. Have a great weekend.
If you are teaching about Canada's role in the First World War or WWI in general you might want to look at the Canadian War Museums website. They have many resources you might find useful in your class. They even have an interactive adventure called "Over The Top". Their online exhibition currently is "Canada and The First World War". It includes a Teachers Resources section. To see the website click here.
I posted this in September 2017 but thought I should repost it again. This interactive 3D tool is a very realistic way to look at the anatomy of the human body. If you are teaching a science or physical education (Exercise Science) that looks into human anatomy this might be what you are looking for. You can login through your google account. To see the website click here. Other similar sites I have looked at can be seen on my other posts by clicking here or here
Would you like to see another country's constitution? Have your students explore world constitutions and compare them side by side based on search terms. To see the website click here.
From the Colossal, "Malaga-based artist Julio Anaya Cabanding paints well-known masterpieces in unsuspecting public places to create captivating trompe l’oeil interventions. The classic scenes and their ornate frames are hand-painted on unlikely backdrops such as graffiti-filled walls, crumbling buildings, and slabs of stones by the sea. These decrepit locations are chosen on purpose, as Anaya Cabanding seeks a distinct contrast to the pristine halls of traditional art museums. “These places are inhospitable, decadent, and inappropriate to receive such a valuable object,” he explains to Colossal. “Opposite of what a museum is.” "
I have not been to Laura Randazzo's website in a bit but it surely was time to take a look again. She does amazing videos and has great ideas. Today I am pointing out her blog on the acronym P.O.W.E.R. which she uses in the writing process. To see he post click here. If you just want the sheets posted below click here.
I was reading Larry Ferlazzo's blog and he mentioned Inaturalist. With this app you and your students can take a picture of something in nature like a Monarch butterfly and with some information about where and when you took the picture etc, you and your students will be able to contribute to a real world science project.
From the Inaturalist website, "One of the world’s most popular nature apps, iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over 750,000 scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature! What’s more, by recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create research quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature. iNaturalist is a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society."
Here is a link to the teachers guide and you can click here to the page on getting started. If you happen to be taking your class out on a field trip, this might be a great activity to do in conjunction with your trip. See the video below.
What is your cities summer and winter temperature going to be in 2050? Check it out by using the interactive website from VOX. Unfortunately it is just for US cities but I live in Windsor Ontario across the border from Detroit, so I can just type in the Motor City to check out the temperatures. Not pretty. Too check it out click here.
