Black History in Canada

 

I thought the Canadian Encyclopedia's Black History in Canada would be a nice start for Black History Month.  It includes articles, editorials, Heritage Minutes videos, a gallery of photos and an interesting timeline.   To see the site click here.

Bell Let's Talk Day

 

On Bell Let’s Talk Day, Bell donates 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for every applicable text, local or long distance call, tweet or TikTok video using #BellLetsTalk, every Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube view of the Bell Let’s Talk Day video, and every use of the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook frame or Snapchat filter. All at no cost to participants beyond what they would normally pay their service provider for online or phone access.

Canadian Primary Sources in the Classroom

 

Among some of the topics on this site are: This Historical Method, 101 Teaching Ideas and Themes.  To see the website click here,

Biointeractive

 

 Biointeractive is a great too for introducing and extending knowledge in  Biology , with highly engaging, short videos, interactives and  lesson plans. The website might be used to introduce new topics or to extend thinking.  Bionteractive allows learners to see science in action.  

For example if you are teaching Decomposers there is an activity called "Solving Crimes with the Necrobiome".   This activity explores content presented in the animated video Solving Crimes with the Necrobiome, which describes the microbial changes associated with decomposing corpses.

In the video, Ed Yong and scientist Jessica Metcalf describe how a community of many microbes, known as the necrobiome, takes over our bodies after we die. Scientists study the necrobiome to better understand the process of decomposition. This research also provides tools for criminal investigators. For example, forensic experiments have shown that it may be possible to estimate time of death by sequencing the DNA of microbes found on and around corpses.

The “Student Handout” probes students’ understanding of the key concepts addressed in the film. The “Educator Materials” document provides suggested pause points in the film with questions for students, background information, and detailed discussion points; a list of related resources and references; and an answer key for the “Student Handout.”

To see the website click here.  The easiest way to search for a specific topic or course is to click here.

If you would like to see the "Solving Crimes with the Necrobiome" click here.

Ice Breakers for Quadmester 3

I posted icebreakers for quadmester 2 here.   I also am posting about a nice article I read on Teaching Channel by Marcee Harris called "15 IDEAS FOR BUILDING COMMUNITY IN YOUR VIRTUAL CLASSROOM".  So you could use these ideas if you are teaching solely virtual or maybe for your asynchronous part of your teaching schedule.  To see the article click here.

Canadian Museum of History Teachers’ Zone

 

From their website, "This website was created to provide Canadian teachers — primarily Grades 3–12 — with access to primary sources and high-quality content. We have worked closely with topic experts, members of diverse cultural communities, and teachers from across the country to create teaching resources on a variety of history-based topics.  In the Teachers’ Zone you’ll find curriculum-based themed packages that include museum artifacts, archival documents, audio and video content, as well as activity suggestions.  Please check back often, as we will continue to enrich these packages and develop new ones, while also reflecting the latest in scholarship, learning, and ways of teaching.  The Canadian Museum of History Teachers’ Zone is designed to bring Canadian history into your classroom in a dynamic and engaging way!"  To see the website click here.

CBC Indigenous

 

This Canadian Broadcasting Company site reflects aboriginal life in Canada and includes weekly news stories, arts and culture, personality profiles, programming, regional content, archival information as well as background and history to current topics, and more.  To see the website click here.

Tasting History with Max Miller

 

This youtube channel would work well in a History or Foods & Culture class.  Some topics include:

Ancient Greek, Roman and Mesopotamian Recipes

The Best of Medieval and Renaissance Recipes

The Forme of Cury

Deserts

Breads

One that I found interesting is Making Medieval Mead Like a Viking.  Here is the trailer for the channel below.  To see the channel click here.

Remote Ready Biology Learning Activities

 

From their website, "These minds-on activities, initially designed for use in the classroom, have been adapted for use in online teaching or distance learning."  Topics include :

Energy – Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis

Cell Division, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Evolution

Ecology

To see the website click here.

Epals

 

According to commonsense.org, "After setting up a classroom, you can connect your students to pen pals and high-quality learning experiences. Many of the experiences are from partners such as the Smithsonian Institute and McGraw-Hill. Teachers can also draft their own learning experience to bring classrooms together from around the world.

The  site has incorporated several safety measures to create a moderated communication platform. To ensure legitimate educators are using ePals, site administrators review new members before they're approved and before they can interact with other users."  To see the website click here.

On This Day

 

Do you need to know of an important historical event that happened on this day, or a famous birthday or death?  Maybe what happened in entertainment or sports or music.  If so try here.  For example today in 1724 Spanish King Philip V abdicates throne.  On TV in 1952 "Today Show" premieres with Dave Garroway & Jack Lescoulie on NBC-TV.  Did you know that on this day in 1794 Dr Jessee Bennet of Edom, Virginia, performs 1st successful Cesarean section operation in the US on his wife?  Famous birthdays today are Mark Antony, Benedict Arnold and Faye Dunaway.  Also the site tells that  famous birthdays for tomorrow were Joan of Arc and Dr Martin Luther King Jr.  On this day in 1984 Ray Kroc died.  If you are not sure who he is maybe ask Ronald.

Bouncy Maps

 

Maps of the world showing energy, minerals, agriculture, livestock, economy, population, religion, conflict and health.  When you select a category such as livestock and then subcategory like pigs and then select bouncymaps it will show you a map of the world scaled to by country that has the most pigs.  See the image below.  Also all data for each country is listed in descending order. See the example embedded below.  Move the toogle from regular map to bouncy map.   To see the website click here.

Shut up – quarantine and social distancing during Tudor epidemics

 

With under lockdown in Ontario I thought this might be of use in a Social Science class.  From the National Archives UK,  "How did the state react to epidemic outbreaks during the Medieval and Early Modern period?

In this talk you'll learn about Henry VIII’s attitudes to infectious disease, Tudor social distancing, and the introduction of the first government quarantine measures in 1517 in response to repeated outbreaks of both plague and ‘sweating sickness’, as well as the widespread reaction to these measures.

The talk was delivered on 12 June 2020 by Dr Euan Roger, Principal Medieval Records Specialist at The National Archives."

Innerbody Research and Biodigital - Human Anatomy

 

Last Tuesday I posted about Get Body Smart.  A website for different systems of the human body.  Today I am posting another site for you to compare.  To see this website click here.  I also have posted in the past about a site called Biodigital which is a realistic 3D tool for studying human anatomy.  To see this site click here.

Grammar Bytes

If you teach English this site be one to check out.  This site has handouts, exercises, power points and a weekly  workout on twitter  like the following:

To see the website click here.

13 Everyday phrases that came from Shakespeare

 

According to Sarah Degnan Moje on Bright Hub,  Thirteen phrases from eleven of Shakespeare’s works have made it into our common vernacular since they were first written down. Some have retained their original meaning from the work in which they were first uttered and some have adapted and shifted over time. My personal favorite and the one that my students are often most impressed with, is that the idea of catching a cold, or having a cold, is something that was foreign before Shakespeare wrote of the concept. People got sick, sure, before he coined the phrase, but the common cold was not called a cold before Shakespeare named it thus!

For example, these thirteen phrases all originated with Shakespeare

Catch a Cold
It’s all Greek to me
Love is Blind
Wild Goose Chase
A Heart of Gold
Break the Ice
Laughing Stock
Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve
Dogs of War
Method to His Madness
Green Eyed Monster
In a Pickle
The World is Your oyster

These insights and more are contained within the downloadable power point. The lesson is brief enough to be taught in a single class period and simple enough for grades 6th and up to comprehend. Each slide names the play from which the phrase derives, the quote from the play and the meaning of the phrase now. Also included, both for fun and reference are still shots of the plays mentioned. 

To see the powerpoint she created for this click here.

Best Job Ever - National Geographic

 

If you are teaching a course in Careers, these 2-3 minute videos might be a nice daily opener to get your students attention.  This youtube playlist has 24 videos of interesting careers.  The first one is below or can be found by clicking here.    The other videos are on the playlist on the right of this video.

DocsTeach and Jackie Robinson

 

Docsteach is a great site for primary sources.  It is an online tool with activities from the US National Archives.  That being said there are activities that would work here in Canada.  For example the one I will link about is on Jackie Robinson (yes the baseball player that broke the colour barrier in MLB) being court-martialed from the US army.  It would work in a unit on civil rights and segregation.  To see the activity click here.

Get Body Smart - Human Anatomy and Physiology

 

An Online Examination of Human Anatomy and Physiology.  Animated text narrations and quizzes to explain the structures and functions of the human body systems.  Systems included are: Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, Circulatory, Respiratory and Urinary.  Also included is Muscle Physiology and Systems Quizzes.  To see the website click here.

Teach Genetics

 

From their website, "Here you'll find a wealth of resources and information aimed at helping educators bring genetics, bioscience and health alive in the classroom. A companion to the popular Learn.Genetics website, Teach.Genetics offers additional tools and resources to support your curriculum, all free of charge."  

This site is from the University of Utah.  It seems to be at the high school level.  To see Teach.Genetics click here.