Search Education Hub – Google

An integrated approach to search literacy

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/

The "Googe Search Education Hub" contains leveled lesson plans for K-12, search activities from AGoogleADay, and the archives of webinars from the last year.  The lessons are designed to support a slow-and-steady, integrated approach to search literacy. They include plenty of detail so that multiple teachers across a school or district can teach different elements as fit into their curricula, even if they start with different levels of experience with Search.

Live and archived training sessions

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/training.html

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Caine's Arcade - Social Media for Good

A boy, an arcade, and a flashmob

http://vimeo.com/40000072

A 9 year old boy - who built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad's used auto part store - is about to have the best day of his life. (11 min)

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Year-End Tech Reflections re Technology

Steps to make technology reflection smoother

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/year-end-tech-reflections-nicholas-provenzano

Some tips for thinking about how your technology integration went this year. What tools did you use? Which ones were effective? What problems did you have?

"Nick Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher on Twitter) teaches high school English at Grosse Pointe South High School in Grosse Pointe, MI. and he offers five steps to help make the technology reflection a bit smoother."

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Track Where Your Stuff Comes From

Sourcemap -  the supply chain for all of your things

[LINK to article]

http://sourcemap.com/

Pieces of of your phone, laptop, computer, etc, came from all over the world. With the Sourcemap mapping tool, you can see the supply chain for everything you buy. Users can try their hand at creating their own visual representations as well.

 

"Sourcemap.com is the open directory of supply chains and environmental footprints. Consumers use the site to learn about where products come from, what they're made of, and how they impact people and the environment. Companies use Sourcemap to communicate transparently with consumers and tell the story of how products are made. Thousands of maps have already been created for food, furniture, clothing, electronics and more."

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Weather Animation - Kids Weather Activities

Report and Predict Weather!

http://www.edheads.org/activities/weather/index.shtml

After students use the site, we recommend teachers go back through the activities with the students (project them if you can) discussing why answers are what they are (see end of this guide for all answers). Leading questions such as "What type of weather seems to be associated with low pressure areas?" or "What direction do most of the fronts seem to move?" can encourage your students to observe more closely than they might otherwise. This activity should complement other class activities and exploration. It is not intended to stand alone, but to be used with other classroom instruction on the topic.

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Simple and Compound Machines

Machines around the house!

Learn about simple and compound machines while you explore the House and Tool Shed!

Simple machines

http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/

Compound machines

http://www.edheads.org/activities/odd_machine/index.shtml

(Thanks LP)

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Trees Inside Out - Tree ecology

Visit the virtual exhibit "Trees Inside Out"

http://www.aucoeurdelarbre.ca/en/

Also available in French

"Pedagogical scenarios designed for teachers and students of primary and secondary levels to aid in the development of a sense of ecocitizenship by encouraging critical thinking and action. They are also an excellent method to exploit or continue the visit of the virtual exhibit Trees Inside Out. They cover tree ecology and related environmental problems."

Animations, text and videos covering the following topics:

• From Root to Crown
• The Living Tree
• The Tree Story
  

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Membranophones - Instruments like drums

Staying in Tune - find out about traditional drumming instruments

[LINK to site]

Link to images, sound files and short narrations. Text is available in French and English.

"Staying in Tune offers you a chance to find out about traditional instruments and learn what connects them to the people who invented them. Young people between the ages of 15 and 20 from nine French-speaking countries came together to share their memories and knowledge about instruments they selected from their cities' museums. The family of membranophones covers instruments from which sound is produced mainly by the vibration of a stretched membrane, such as the drum."

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Kitchens of Early Settlers - circa 1920s

Setting up a household in a rural area (1920s)

[Link to stories that use images from the exhibit]

Read narratives using the images from the exhibit.

  "In eras past, farm kitchens rarely boasted the contemporary conveniences of their urban counterparts.  Imagine trying to set up a household in a rural area with no electricity and no running water. Your possessions would be few, likely hand-me down items such as a stove, a bed, a wooden table, a few chairs and perhaps a small but efficient cupboard."

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Folger Shakespeare Library - site and video

Folger Library

http://www.folger.edu/eduLesPlan.cfm?cid=618

"The Folger Shakespeare Library, located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. is home to the world's largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials and to major collections of other rare Renaissance books, manuscripts, and works of art. Folger serves a wide audience of researchers, visitors, teachers, students, families, and theater- and concert-goers."

Explore Folger Library and Stage

http://www.learn360.com/efield-trips-shakespeare-recording.aspx

"In this electronic field trip (56 min), explore the genius that is William Shakespeare. Inspire students to read Shakespeare's works, and empower them to understand his language. Travel backstage with professional actors rehearsing for a Shakespeare performance, see original documents relating to Shakespeare's life and times, and enjoy special behind-the-scenes access to the Folger Shakespeare Library."

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Class Widgets - Custom Widgets for iBooks Author

Add functionality to your iBook Author creations

http://classwidgets.com/

Do you want more than the 6 inbuilt widgets that came with iBook Author?

"With Class Widgets, you can easily add more. No need to program or install Dashcode, just click on the Wizard and download your auto-generated widget. See the list below for the latest iBooks Author Widgets:"

• Custom Sliding Puzzle in iBooks
• Interactive timeline images
• Embed YouTube clips in iBooks
• Embed Vimeo clips in iBooks
• Embed Google Maps in iBooks
• Live Polling Widget
  

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Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots

Story starters for aspiring writers

[LINK to preview of book]

"A classic how-to manual (1928), William Wallace Cook's Plotto is one writer's personal method, painstakingly diagrammed for the benefit of others. Re-released in 2011, there are over 2,000 unique conflict situations in the book, and each is cross-referenced with designs for how the situation might have started, or where it might go."

This might be an interesting way to help aspiring writers get story starters. The Amazon Preview (Look inside) gives an intriguing glimpse into Cook's method.

More info:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/01/06/plotto/

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The Stacks for Kids | Scholastic.com

The site about books and reading - for kids

http://www.scholastic.com/thestacks

"THE STACKS is Scholastic's site about books and reading for kids, where they can create profiles and interact with other kids about books, authors, etc. in a safe environment. Find morea bout Books & Authors, play the Games, read the Blog, watch the Videos and more."

TLs will find booktrailers and author interviews as well as new featured titles.

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Community Club - Scholastic Reading

Reading activities for early learners.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/commclub/

"Captivate your early learners with these 54 nonfiction read-along books. Listen and Read activities tell the story through words, images, and sound. You can use these online activities in a variety of ways, from one-on-one instruction using a computer or tablet to class instruction on an interactive whiteboard."

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Battle of the Bands - video contest

Promote, advocate and save music programs

http://www.dosomething.org/battle/video-gallery

"A parent enlisted the help of a music teacher and students at an Oregon school to produce a video for a national competition that they hope also could help persuade officials not to cut funding for the arts. The result:  "Do something.org" is sponsoring a competition they call "Battle for the Bands" to encourage students from across the US to promote, advocate and save music programs."

A similar project in your area could be used to promo local music programs.

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Low-pressure coaching and real-world practice - Pro-D

Never too late to learn

by Cate Sommervold and Melissa Goodwin

http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201205#pg22

(from May 2012 issue of Learning & Leading with Technology magazine)

"Find out how one professional development program uses low-pressure coaching and real-world practice to inspire teachers to embrace new technologies so their students will follow their lead."

(thanks JH)

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Young Canadians in a Wired World - research project

Behaviours of Canadian youth and internet use.

Young Canadians in a Wired World (YCWW) is a research project that tracks and investigates the behaviours, attitudes, and opinions of Canadian children and youth with respect to their use of the Internet. The project was initiated in 2000, and the Phase III report (Teachers Perspectives) was recently released and is available online from the MNet website along with some useful teaching resources.

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Guy Kawasaki: Enchantment (book and video)

The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions

http://www.guykawasaki.com/enchantment/audio-video/

(Full presentation, clips, audio, notes, slides, TV interviews.)

"Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions is Guy's tenth book. In it, he explains how to influence what people will do while maintaining the highest standards of ethics. The book explains when and why enchantment is necessary and illustrates the pillars of enchantment. If you want to change the world — or even part of the world, this book is for you."

The book is primarily aimed at the business world, but has practical applications to the classroom, and to what we do in our libraries. Coming from the "Mac" world, he has a lot to say about design, motivation and generating excitement.

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"Not Just For Kids" - Books with a deeper message

Teen and Tween Books that work for Adults

[Link to search results]

The LA Times periodically reviews novels that, although intended for teens (or tweens), have enough depth that they would likely be appreciated by adult readers. This makes these books good candidates for the in-depth discussions that often characterize lit circles. They also are good book suggestions for parents who want to read titles alongside their kids. Take a look at the list: (Scroll down the LA Times search results to see the titles.)

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NewsPoet: Write The Day In Verse : NPR

Poems reflecting on the day's news

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/27/145985904/newspoet-tracy-k-smith-writes-the-day-in-verse

Turn the news into poetry. This might be an interesting way to talk about the power of poetry, and the impact verse can have.  Students might even try their hand at writing their own poetic reworking of the day's events.

"Today marks the start of an exciting project at All Things Considered. Each month we'll be bringing in a poet to spend time in the newsroom — and at the end, to compose a poem reflecting on the day's news. - The first poet to participate is Tracy K. Smith. She has received degrees in English and creative writing from Harvard College, Columbia University, and was a Wallace Stegner Fellow in Poetry at Stanford University. Her latest book of poems is titled Life on Mars."

Another poet (Monica Youn)

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/27/151517039/newspoet-monica-youn-writes-the-day-in-verse

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informationisbeautiful - Visualizations

How visualizing information can reveal hidden connections

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations

"David McCandless is a London-based author, writer and designer who has written for The Guardian, Wired and others. He works as an independent data journalist and information designer. His passion is visualizing information – facts, data, ideas, subjects, issues, statistics, questions – all with the minimum of words. He is interested in how designed information can help us understand the world and reveal the hidden connections, patterns and stories underneath."

This could be a good way for students to represent their learning.

What does a colour mean in other cultures?

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/colours-in-cultures/

Scientific evidence for supplements

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-supplements/

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NounProject - the world in icons

A free library of downloadable symbols

http://thenounproject.com/

http://thenounproject.com/categories/

(you might have to use Firefox to access the site.)

"The Noun Project was born one year ago.  We launched the collection as a free library of downloadable symbols made mostly of the National Park Services, AIGA, and Universal Health Care public domain symbols. Today, that library has expanded to include more than 800 symbols created by our designers, collaborators, and - most excitingly - by users from around the world. It is no longer just a library. It's also a workshop, where concepts are visualized and shared freely. It's a new way of thinking where language is seen, not spoken."

The design process in action (video)

http://twitter.com/#!/nounproject/status/192648070918438912

Short video made with icons

http://vimeo.com/20771439

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Booktrust - an independent reading and writing charity in the UK

Giving people confidence and choices about reading

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/

Youtube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/Booktrust

Resources

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/resources/

"Booktrust is an independent reading and writing charity that makes a nationwide impact on individuals, families and communities, and culture in the UK.   We work to empower people of all ages and abilities by giving them confidence and choices about reading. And we want individuals of all backgrounds to benefit from the wellbeing that a rich and positive engagement in reading and writing can bring."

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Five-Minute Film Festival: Poetry Month

Videos about the power of poetry for young people

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-poetry-spoken-word-literacy

Amy Erin Borovoy is Edutopia's digital media curator, and she has a passion for content at the intersection of online video, new technologies, and education.

"Poetry can get kids excited about reading, writing, performing, and finding their voice. As we near the end of April, National Poetry Month, I've put together a selection of videos about the power of poetry for young people -- in the classroom and beyond."

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Free Online MIT Course Materials for High School

HighLights for High School - MIT resources to explore

http://ocw.mit.edu/high-school/for-teachers/

Browse a range of materials to help teachers:

• Show science demonstrations by MIT faculty in the classroom.
• Provide alternate explanations to reinforce key concepts.
• Guide students to additional homework problems and exam examples.
• Add to teacher knowledge.
  

Teachers can use this site to help their students:

• Understand concepts by watching video demonstrations.
• Study for AP exams.
• Sample the kind of work they'll be doing in college.
  

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"Look for 398.2" - Dewey Rap

Dewey Poetry - "Look for 398.2"

(©1983 posted on LM-Net by Judy Freeman)

Author of "Books Kids Will Sit Still For"

If you want a good story,

let me tell you what to do:

Look for 398.2

Ogres, leprechauns and goblins

all are waiting there for you:

Look for 398.2

Prince or princess in hot water,

trouble with a witch's brew:

Look for 398.2

Fierce and fire-breathing dragons,

shiny scales of green and blue:

Look for 398.2

Find a tale from every country,

from Australia to Peru:

Look for 398.2

That's all you've gotta do!

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Book Repair Workshop - video

Basic Book Repair for Beginners

(Mandi Schwarz at UNBC, Jan 30, 2012)

http://www.bcla.bc.ca/LTAIG/page/book%20repair%20workshop.aspx

The workshop video covers:

- Tips and considerations before starting a repair

- An overview of required and recommended supplies

- A few basic repairs:

• Torn and loose pages
• Hinges
• Covers
  
  

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