DonorsChoose.org for Support & Supplies for Schools

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with other organizations, donates to DonorsChoose.org  to support teachers from math and science to the humanities with resources for their specific ideas. In the June issue of Vanity Fair magazine, Melinda Gates writes her first Spotlight on this organization that provides support and supplies to American schools, saying it’s “such a smart, simple concept.  Every student deserves a great education, and DonorsChoose helps teachers deliver on that promise.’

DonorsChoose.org lets you share the needs of your classroom with a generous community eager to help.   According to the site, supporters have brought teachers’ ideas to life in more than half of all U.S. public schools. The site provides information about how DonorsChoose works and how teachers can get started, asking “What change do you want in your classroom?”

A great question –We hope you’ll check out DonorsChoose.org and let us know what you think!

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Ten of the Best Virtual Field Trips

While getting students out of the classroom into the field can be a stimulating experience for students and teachers, today there are other ways to explore worlds beyond the classroom.  Here’s another perspective from Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor, eSchool News, April 7, 2013 — Taking a field trip these days can be less than productive. There are the permission slips, scheduling a bus, ensuring liability coverage and so on. So virtual field trips have become increasingly popular: they’re usually, free, make better use of time, and give you more control over your students, resulting in a better overall learning experience.

To help educators save time, we’ve chosen these 10 virtual field trips based on their relevancy, depth and quality of resources, and potential for student excitement.

1. Arctic Adventure

2. Global Trek

4. Hershey’s Factory

5. Le Louvre

To read descriptions of each of these virtual trips, plus see the remaining five, click here

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Transitioning to Digital Content: 3 Recommendations

By staff writers, eSchool News, April 13, 2013 — As a concept, using digital content in the classroom is nothing new. But making the leap from using traditional print textbooks to fully integrating digital content in the classroom can be intimidating. During a webinar sponsored by the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), some experienced digital content advocates shared how they implemented changes in their schools and districts.

In “Out of Print: Reimagining the K-12 Textbook,” a recent SETDA report, the group issued three recommendations to help school leaders and policy makers guide and implement the use of digital content:

• Complete the shift from print-centric textbook adoption practices to digital resources within five years, beginning with the next major textbook adoption cycle

•  Develop a vision and roadmap for completing the shift, eliminate unnecessary or ineffective policies and regulations, invest in infrastructure and devices, and ensure effective implementation of digital learning policies

•  Ensure a vibrant marketplace for digital and open content

Read the entire article by clicking here

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Featured Resources: The Science of Movement and Importance of Exercise

Springtime offers the perfect backdrop for promoting physical activity and engaging students in immersive learning experiences. Use these resources from PBS LearningMedia to explore the science of movement and to highlight the importance of exercise in their daily lives:

Mixie’s Boogie Buffet  (Grades 1-4) What better way to kick off a lesson on exercise than to get students up on their feet with this “Fizzy’s Lunch Lab” interactive?

Power Your Body with Exercise  (Grades 5-8) Invite students to examine the changes that occur in the body in response to physical activity.

Increasing Physical Activity in Schools (Grades 13+)  High levels of physical activity  support learning on-task behavior and the development of life-long wellness.  Learn how to increase the activity level at your school using this self-paced lesson.

Titanium Chairs & Cheetah Legs  (Grades 6-12) Introduce students to the specialized wheelchairs, prosthetics and other high-tech tools that allow Paralympic athletes to compete.

The Truth About Exercise (Grades 6-13+) An obesity expert proposes that the best way to lose weight and improve health is to increase your “NEAT” level.  Ask students to investigate his theory.

PBS LearningMedia is honored to be counted among this year’s recipients of the 2013 SIIA CODiE Award for both “Best Education Reference Solution” and “Best K12 Solution” in the Education Technology category!

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Hispanic History, Culture & Spanish Speaking Skills

Expand  students’ understanding of Hispanic history and culture while helping to develop their Spanish language skills with resources from PBS Learning Media.   These  featured interactive games, video clips, and lesson plans  are designed to engage learners and enhance curriculum.  If you’ve  yet to do so, you can  create a free account on PBS LearningMedia to search, save, and share your favorite resources.

The Storm that Swept Mexico: Revolutionary Art
Grades 9-12 | Video | Visual Art and History
Explore the Mexican Muralist Movement and consider the role of art as social commentary using this video resource from Latino Public Broadcasting.

Rough Riders
Grads 6-12 | Video | Spanish American War
Use this resource to enhance lessons on the Spanish American War, Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, and New Mexico’s path toward statehood.

Baseball and Social Change: The Story of Roberto Clemente
Grades: 5-8 | Blended Lesson | Literacy Skill Development
Invite students to examine the relationship between culture and identity through the story of baseball legend Roberto Clemente.

Hispanic Exploration in America
Grades: 4-12 | Media Gallery | Teaching with Primary Resources
Gain insight into the Hispanic exploration, colonization, and conquests in North America by examining a collection of primary sources from the Library of Congress.
*If you like this resource – you might like this online course.

The Red Balloon
Grades K-2 | Lesson Plan, Games | Spanish Vocabulary
¡Pruébalo! Develop your students’ Spanish language skills using this collection of videos and interactive games from “Oh Noah!”

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Learning New Words While WordGirl Saves the Day!

Word Girl makes it fun to teach new words to preK-2 learners.  In this recently released DVD, Miss Power, along with her sidekick, Colonial Giggle Cheeks, is new in town.  Is she a friend or a foe?  She uses mean words against others and is certified bully!  Will Word Girl be able to defeat Miss Power without sinking to her level and save the city?

Bonus: “A World Without Wordgirl.”  The video introduces 16 new vocabulary words. You can borrow “The Rise of Miss Power” (I.D. 2255) for a month by clicking here .

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Frontline: The Holocaust’s Last Living Survivors

In the most recent of his critically-lauded autobiographical films, Never Forget to Lie,  Marian Marzynski explores for the first time his own wartime childhood and the experiences of other child survivors.  The filmmaker teases out their feelings about Poland, the Catholic Church, and the ramifications of identities forged under circumstances where survival began with the directive “never forget to lie.”

Airing on WGBY on Tuesday, May 14 at 10:00pm, Never Forget to Lie chronicles the poignant, painful recollections of other child survivors. The film rescues haunting pieces of the past while exploring the conflicting feelings about national, cultural, and religious identity that mark many survivors.

Watch a preview, where you can also learn the latest about Marzynski’s documentary.  At the Frontline Teacher Center you’ll find new classroom activities with streaming video, downloadable lesson plans, and web-exclusive resources to accompany FRONTLINE programs in the classroom.

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Boosting Student Performance — It’s About Relationships

By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor, eSchool News, May 8, 2013 — “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like,” says Rita Pierson, a veteran educator and recent TED Talks Education speaker. According to Pierson, connecting with students on a real, human level is the key to improving student performance.

Pierson, who’s been a professional educator for 40 years, has worked at every level of the public school spectrum from elementary through high school. Having been in education for such a long time, she says she’s witnessed many changes, all aimed at school improvement and boosting student performance.

Read the entire article by clicking here

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Six Tips For Guiding The Learning Of Students With Autism

By Heather Patin – eSchool News, April 25, 2013 — Classrooms come with their own unique characters, props, and soundtracks. To the average student, these things meld into the background, setting the scene for learning. However, for children affected by autism, simple disruptions—from the opening of a book to the ringing of a bell—can cause major setbacks in the learning experience.

How can teachers and parents ensure that the needs of students with autism are being addressed? Here are six tips:

• Learning to learn: It is essential for any student to develop good learning habits in order for true learning to take place, and the same is true for children on the autism spectrum.
  
• Practice predictability: Students with autism are most comfortable when they are taking part in a predictable schedule.
  
• Consistent reinforcement: It is vital that you regularly reinforce desired skills in order to maintain them.
  
• Change the lesson plan: There isn’t just one way to teach students with autism.
  
• Get social: Social skills are fundamental to finding success in school, as well as in life.
• Small steps: Improvement is an incremental process.

Read the entire article by clicking here.

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Venom: Nature’s Killer from NOVA

From Emily Dickinson’s poem “Narrow fellow in the grass” to the story of Adam and Eve, snakes are likely to get our attention as they will this Wednesday, May 8, at 9:00pm when WGBY airs NOVA’s Venom:  Nature’s Killer. 

Over the millennia, thousands of creatures have developed that most sophisticated of biological and chemical weapons: venom. These complex chemicals can scramble our brain signals, paralyze muscles, puncture blood cells, even begin digesting us from within. But nature’s most potent toxins might also contain the keys to a new generation of advanced drugs to help doctors treat serious illnesses such as heart attacks, cancer and diabetes.

Follow NOVA crews as they join scientists on a dangerous quest to track down and capture the world’s most venomous animals—to find out both how they can kill us, and how they can save us. Watch a preview.

You can find classroom resources on venom and snakes at NOVA’s Beta site for teachers and at PBS LearningMedia.

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