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Technology & Thanksgiving??

This is an awesome opportunity from Scholastic to participate in a more "interactive" study of the First Thanksgiving this year!

Register for virtual field trips to the Pilgrim village and the Wampanoag homesite.  Whether you actually are able to watch the live webcasts or not, you'll receive really neat email letters from a Pilgrim girl and a Wampanoag boy that your class can read OR listen to together! 

I registered for the virtual field trips (which was a quick and easy online form), and received this email:

Dear Jennifer Smith,

Thanks for registering for the email portion of your free Thanksgiving Teaching Kit!

Your class will receive a series of letters from Lizzy, a fictional character based on historical records of life in the 1620’s, who writes from aboard the Mayflower, from the Plimoth Plantation, and ends with her excited rendering of the first Thanksgiving. Along with learning about this young Pilgrim girl, your class will also get to know 12-year-old Pometacomet, a fictional member of the Wampanoag nation, who describes life in the autumn when the Mayflower was first sighted, his first impressions of the "coat-men," and, finally, the great feast with the Pilgrims!

All letters come with audio to give added life to Lizzy and Pometacomet and enhance the drama of their stories -- as well as offering pronunciation to new vocabulary introduced. Visually, the emails appear on a parchment like background and are accompanied by photographs. The roll out of the letters is meant to provide an historical backdrop to and build anticipation for the Virtual Field Trips to come – and to give you time for class discussion about each set of letters. As part of your registration, you will also receive email reminders for these video tours.

Letters Schedule:

November 3:
Autumn 1620
Letter From Lizzy — A Message from the Mayflower
Letter From Pometacomet — Harvesting and Preparing for Winter

November 10:

Autumn 1620
Letter From Lizzy — Arriving at Plimoth Plantation
Letter From Pometacomet — Will We Live in Peace?

November 16:

Harvest 1621
Letter From Lizzy — The Thanksgiving Feast
Letter From Pometacomet — The Feast of the Pilgrims

Hang this sign on your door or in your classroom to share how your class is using technology to study Thanksgiving!

Sign up NOW!  First letter comes November 3!



Other Scholastic Thanksgiving Resources:

First Person Pilgrim Interviews by Scholastic

Historical Fiction letters from a Pilgrim girl and Native American boy (with Audio, too!) by Scholastic

Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue...

BrainPop has nice Columbus Day activities at this link.  Even if you're not a BrainPop subscriber, you can access these activities.  IF you do have a subscription, you can also use the cute movie at the top of the page.

And, speaking of mapmaking...National Geographic has a new MapMaker interactive that would be great for middle and high classrooms.  Customize your own map, download, print, or share.  Check it out here!

Installing New Fonts

I love having new, fresh fonts on my computer to use on my documents.  It is easy to download FREE fonts from the web.  This site has a good collection to get you started.  If you want even more, there are MANY other sites that offer free fonts.  Just Google it.

How do you install a font?  Microsoft users can find that answer here.  Mac users here.

Rock Cycles Everywhere!

It seems that every school I've been in lately, regardless of the age level, has been studying Rocks!  So, here are a few interactives that cover the the Rock Cycle that hopefully some of you can use!

http://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/

http://www.kscience.co.uk/animations/rock_cycle.htm

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0602/es0602page02.cfm

http://www.phschool.com/atschool/phsciexp/active_art/rock_cycle/index.html

Free Resources

Teachers Pay Teachers has made a list of files free for you via The Organized Classroom blog.  Both sites are great to check out, but here is a direct link to the list of free files:

http://www.theorganizedclassroomblog.com/index.php/resources/500-fans

You'll see files for all levels and areas.

Enjoy!

Awesome Teacher Blog List

Wow!? Has it really been since February that I've written a blog entry here?  I will try to be more faithful!

Check out this blog site where there is an extensive list of teacher blogs organized by grade level.  You will LOVE it!

The Teachers Lane

You're Never too Old!!

You're never too old, too wacky, too wild,
To pick up a book and read with a child.

You're never too busy, too cool, or too hot,

To pick up a book and share what you've got.

In schools and communities,

Let's gather around,

Let's pick up a book,

Let's pass it around.

There are kids all around you,

Kids who will need

Someone to hug,

Someone to read.

Come join us March 2nd

Your own special way

And make this America's

Read to Kids Day.

Celebrate Read Across America March 2nd! Below are links to help you celebrate this special day in your classrooms:
Seussville--Read Across America Activities and Printables
Seussville--Fun Interactives for your Interactive Whiteboards or computer stations
Rick and Bubba Read Green and Eggs and Ham LIVE--Listen via the computer and participate in the World's Largest Classroom!!!
Reading Rockets--Green Eggs and Ham Participation Guide for teachers and parents
The Sneetches--Watch the Sneetches Full Version



Voki for Education

I've shown many of you the Voki site before, where you can make an "avatar" like character and instruct it to say what you want it to say.  For example:


Voki has released a new "Voki for Education" area on its Web site, with ideas for incorporating Voki into the classroom!  Check it out here!

Long Time, No Blog!!!

Well, I've fallen a bit behind keeping the blog updated.  But, saw this announcement this morning, and it definitely was worth stopping and posting about for you all to see!

I've been waiting for this contest to open back up again, and I really hope that we can have some participants from our area enter!  From the Doodle for Google Web site:

Visit the Doodle for Google page for contest rules and registration, and please email me and let me know if you are going to participate!

Google Science Fair

On 11 January, 2011, Google is launching the inaugural Google Science Fair. They have partnered with NASA, CERN, National Geographic, Scientific American and the LEGO Group to create a new STEM competition that is more open, accessible and global than ever before. Google is reaching out to educators prior to launch to let you know “the Google Science Fair is coming” and to extend an invitation to schools and teachers to get involved early in our global competition.


To sign up for fun and free resource kits for your classroom or school (with bookmarks, stickers, posters and more!) and a reminder notification when GSF registration opens, please visit the Google Science Fair at:
http://www.google.com/events/sciencefair/ .

The Google Science Fair is a global competition that any student aged 13 - 18 from around the world is eligible to enter. Students can enter as individuals or as teams of up to three. There is no entry fee and registration and submission will happen online. The deadline for submissions will be the 4 April, 2011. The Science Fair will culminate in a “once in a lifetime” celebratory event at Google headquarters in California in July 2011 where finalists will compete for internships, scholarships and prizes in front of a panel of celebrity scientist judges including Nobel Laureates, tech visionaries and household names.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!

This is old news for most of you, but PBS has launched a new animated show, "The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!" 

The show is designed to promote science among early learners.  There are great teacher resources that supplement the episodes available on PBS Teacher's Cat in the Hat Web site.  If you haven't seen the show or checked out these resources yet, take the time to do it today!