Retooled .... resources for 21st century educators

Using Wordle and an Arabic Translator

A. Elkordy — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:35:32 +0000

For Miss Annie

Wordle is great for so many educational applications emphasizing language…and not just English This Wordle was made by using the Arabic Translator provided by Babylon and the cutting and pasting into Wordle. The more words are repeated, the greater the visual impact.

Aireyanna’s SL Class

A. Elkordy — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:33:09 +0000

Using Wordle to describe some of the concepts in the fabulous EDTECH 531 class. Way to go Miss Annie! Thanks for sharingto all, especially teachers Mirt and Rowan, and generous classmates.

If you don’t use Wordle already, give it a try — so many instructional uses (and great for recognitions too )

It’s that time of the year again — Spelling Bee!

A. Elkordy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:59:10 +0000

Spellingcity.com is a great site for helping students get ready for spelling tests.

Words of Arabic origin

After registering (free), teachers can enter their own spelling lists or use one of the 100+ “sample” lists (including “Words of Arabic Origin” and lists by grade level up to grade 8). There are thousands of spelling lists from grade 1 to high school (e.g. SAT prep).

Students can work with spelling lists in three ways — “teach me,” “test me,” or play a game.” One of the best features of this site is a real human voice which pronounces the words (not your standard “computer generated” voice box!) which means extensive possibilities for using this site to differentiate instruction, teach English language learners as well as differently abled students.

Lists for handwriting practice (3 sizes of lines, capital or cursive) may be printed as well as lists of words. Parent letters may also be printed to send home. This site won the “Parents Choice Award” (deserving!).

Just One More Book — Children’s Book Reviews (podcasts)

A. Elkordy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:24:51 +0000

Just One More Book is a sizable digital collection of podcasts

Just One More Book

reviewing children’s books, as well as author and illustrator interviews and discussions. Parents of two young daughters, Andrea and Mark explain the purpose of their web site: “The Just One More Book!! podcast is a thrice-weekly audio-on-demand program in which we discuss the children’s books we love and why we love them – recorded in our favourite coffee shop.”

Podcasts are searchable by authors’ or illustrators’ names and also by “categories” which include, for example, topics, subjects, genres, illustrations (further subdivided: cute, hilarious etc) and values. Sound files are usually 5-12 minutes in length, and play from the web browser without any special plugins.

There are literally dozens of authors and illustrators including children’s favorite’s such as Jon Scieszka and Maurice Sendak. They are arranged alphabetically by first name.

Welcome Night of Ramadan

Reviews include links to other relevant materials such as book reviews on similar topics or by the same author. Books are tagged according to content and the values (fairness/justice, forgiveness, generosity, etc) tags are especially useful. Clicking on a tag will bring up a listing of books with similar themes.

This is a useful resource for book talks, storytelling and authors. Kids and adults will like the easy format and fun approach; the love of books and reading (combined with technology) is apparent and engaging.

Digitial Libraries — Read, Write, Think — pt. 2

A. Elkordy — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:41:35 +0000

Ok, so it’s not tomorrow (please see below). This post on Read, Write, Think will focus on web resources, student materials and learning beyond the classroom.

Writing Fix

The Web Resources gallery is an annotated listing of “useful English language arts” resources available on the Internet. This list contains goodies such as “Writefix” where teacher’s teach writing instead of just “assigning it.” There are writing prompts and lesson plans including the creative iPod inspired “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” featuring the Beatles’ song and others.

Other interesting resources include the “Young Writers’ Workshop” where parents and teachers can use cool writing prompts to encourage young writers who may even be published and the National Archives video section.

National Archives VOD

An impressive strength of the Read, Write, Think site are the wide variety of Student Resources which are essentially interactive modules to support literacy learning which make practice and producing fun for K-12 students. There are over 50 visually rich tools for guiding students through letter recognition (ABC Match, Alphabet Organizer ) to analysis of story elements (Drama Map, Literacy Elements Map, Plot Diagram) to inquiry based research (Animal Inquiry, Read, Write Think Notetaker. Students can create or decorate their own works using a wide variety of tools

Shrek Satire

(Book Cover Creator, Comic Creator, Profile Publisher) as well as engage in pre-writing activities using graphic organizers (Circle Plot Diagram, Graphic Map). Doodle Splash is a fun applet which combines drawing with writing prompts. Each tool has a descriptive page with hyperlinks to lessons that use it, for example: Exploring Satire with Shrek (suitable for grades 9-12).

Visible through the drop down site guide box, are links to podcasts and videos (the site may be searched by keyword to find these materials; a direct link is available on the “Learning Beyond the Classroom” module).

I really like the diversity of the students featured on this section of the web site because the inclusion of all students as potential learners. The resources, inlcuding literacy activities, booklists, podcasts and videos, are grouped into age ranges/

Beyond the Classroom

grade levels. The focus in on family literacy and how caregivers can engage or develop these skills in their charges.

Read, Write, Think site is a comprehensive digital library for educators, containing tools, lesson plans, videos and interactive learning games. Most highly recommended for K-12

Digital Libraries — Read, Write, Think, pt. 1

A. Elkordy — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:37:32 +0000

Read, Write, Think is a collaborative project authored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the International Reading Association (IRA). It is part of the Thinkfinity.org suite of educational sites (formerly Marco Polo). Over the years, this site has grown to incorporate some outstanding tools to support English language learning, literacy and reading in its digital library. Because the site has so many, rich and outstanding resources, this post will focus on Lessons, Standards and Literacy Engagments sections. Tomorrow’s post will focus on web resources, student materials and learning beyond the classroom.

For example, lesson plans, arranged by grade bands (K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and high school) and by strand (“Learning language,”, “Learning About Language,” and “Learning Through Language”), are standards and researched based. They are very comprehensive, including links to resources and assessments such as instructional strategies, rubrics, as well as student learning materials such as worksheets, resources or interactive learning modules to for guided practice or to produce materials. As such, the lesson plans and supporting materials are an excellent way to meaningfully integrate technology as a pedagogical tool into the curriculum.

To find lesson plans on a topic, select a grade band, a literacy strand and a “literacy engagement” (genre study, grammar, phonics etc) from the drop down boxes:

Finding Lesson Plans

Let’s, for example, search for a 3rd grade lesson on reading comprehension:

Lesson Search

The results listing of intradisciplinary lessons may

Lesson Plan -- Story Elements

be sorted by date, title, grade level or abstract. One of the lesson plans, on story elements, was developed by the IRA; it is actually a description of a unit study taking place over five, 45min. sessions. Lessons may be printed using the “Printer Friendly Option” (top right). This standards based lesson includes a description of student objectives, activities, teaching strategies and timeline of events. Supporting materials include: instructional strategies (research), student handouts (rubrics, story maps, conference guides for discussion), an overview of an instructional plan, extension activities and student assessment. Lessons, whenever possible, include engaging web based resources or interactives. This plan is no exception containing a link to Storyline Online, where actors read stories such as Stellaluna.

: Stellaluna

All lessons address one or more of the 12 IRA/NCTE standards for English Language Arts.

The idea of literacy engagements is to highlight functions of language for students during the learning process to increase awareness to ultimately impact student understanding and achievement. More specifically, “Literacy engagements simultaneously involve learning language (as students listen to it and use it with others in their everyday lives), learning about language (as students try to figure out how it works, engage with their teachers in focused instruction on how it works or in critiquing its impact), and learning through language (as students use it to learn about or do something)” (http://www.readwritethink.org/literacy/index.html). Examples of strategies and types of learning engagements are given, which helps both educators and students to focus on the learning tasks and objectives.

Outstanding research based lesson plans and supporting materials! View next post for more details.

Directions — Geography Interactives

A. Elkordy — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:45:40 +0000

National Geographic Kids

The idea of “direction” is a perfect match for the study of geography, that is, the physical world and our response as humans (cultures). Here’s a virtual walk around the world as viewed through resources which inspire awe and critical reflection.

The National Geographic Society has excellent resources and tools available for students of all ages, as well as their educators. National Geographic Kids , for example, in rich in media of all types including photography, videos, interactive games as well as activities, stories, a book blog and, of course, educational content.

Interesting articles featuring kids involved in activities such as travelling the world and reporting back in a blog (“World Bros’) and “Letterboxing” (an activity using directions and clues to find letters in plastic boxes, akin to geocaching) compliment the content of facts, maps and country facts found ”People and Places.”

Wolf cubs

Kids can join in the fun as well with the International Photography Contest. This year’s entries are due November 12. The contest is open to children and youth who are 6-14.

National Geographic Map Machine

The National Geographic Society‘s site is suitable for students in middle and high school. Of particular note for educators are the maps and interactive sections. The Maps section contains the Map Machine which allows users to create or view various kinds of “maps.” For example, satellite, street or physical maps are available as well as more specialized maps showing human impact (“human footprint”) , weather or natural disasters, population, conservation etc.

Xpeditions

National Geographic’s Ednet for educators (temporarily off-line). Xpeditions, another educational site by the National Geographic team, contains standards aligned lesson plans for grades K-12, activities, maps and other special features such as daily news and current events or music of the world. Xpeditions is part of the outstanding Thinkfinity suite of resources (originally Marco Polo).

World Music

Mablecroft maps provide information in a 3D format by teaming up with Google Earth to visually plot information on diverse human interest topics such as world debt, natural disasters, climate change, child labor, poverty, digital inclusion, military expenditure, renewable energy and water.

Juicy Geography’s Google Earth page has some awesome lesson ideas that are cross curricular. For example, the “His Dark Materials” lesson has students acting as film scouts for the “Northern Lights” novel by Phillip Pullman (published in the U.S. as “The Golden Compass.” Links include geography of the story as well as activity ideas.

Google Lit Trips

Similarly, Google’s Lit Trips blends geography with literature. This article in the Edutopia publication explains what Lit Trips are, how to use them and how to make your own

”To see the learning potential of a lit trip, Burg suggests taking a look at the trip he recently created to help high school readers explore a contemporary novel, The Kite Runner. (From Google Lit Trips, click the link at the top of the page for grades 9-12, then choose the link for The Kite Runner.) Using the interactive file, readers can virtually follow along with the character Amir on his journey back to his native Afghanistan to, as he puts it, “make things good again” with a family he knew as a boy” (http://www.edutopia.org/google-lit-trips-virtual-literature). Hyperlinked trips are divided by grade level K-5, 6-8, 9-12 and higher ed.

Calendars for Educators — September

A. Elkordy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:21:33 +0000

As the school year begins, planning is key for educators Calendars are very important in this process — here are a few ideas.

About.com’s “Fundays calendar” has lots of ideas for unusual observations. For example, who knew that Sept. 5 is “Be Late for Something Day”? A reminder that Sept. 9 is “Grandparents Day” is also timely Other days of note in September include the Mexican Independence day (9/16), Constitution day (9/17), World Gratitude Day (9/21), and author Shel Silverstein’s birthday (9/25).

The Teacher’s corner web site also has monthly calendars of interest to educators. For example, September ‘s dates of note include Citizenship day (9/17), Good Neighbor day (9/28) and Positive Thinking day (9/13). Monthly calendars may be printed and coordinated with daily writing prompts or theme units.

Teachervision’s calendars include trivia as well as link to month long observances. For example: this month is National Library card sign-up month and Kid’s Good Manners month.

Sept. 2008

Scholastic’s calendars are easy to follow, concentrating on to-do items or major observances.

For older students, the New York Times’ Learning Network site has a feature called “On This Day” with historical events occurring on the current date (archive available as well). Another interesting and informative calendar is the Read, Write, Think calendar (authored by the National Council of Teachers of English, International Reading Association etc).

Read, Write, Think Calendar

While the emphasis is literacy and literature (authors’ birthdays such as Roald Dahl 9/13, etc), there are also many references to other significant events and observances such as Hispanic Heritage Month (beginning 9/15) and International World Peace Day (9/21). Events are linked to high qulaity lesson plans and activities.

Digital Learning for Early Elementary — BBC KS1 Bitesize

A. Elkordy — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:58:53 +0000

Math

The BBC (British Broadcasting Company) has an educational site for kids divided into “key stages.” KS1 or Key Stage 1 is equivalent to early elementary (approximately K-2). The site has engaging, interactive modules in literacy (spelling, phonics, alphabetical order, pronouns, using punctuation etc) and numeracy (time, number ordering adding and subtraction, division, multiplication, money, organizing data etc.) topics for practice and reinforcement.

Time

Teacher Tube — Math Raps & more

A. Elkordy — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:15:00 +0000

Math Raps & More

Teacher tube is the educational and fun version of Youtube for use in the classroom. Video shorts, made by educators, are available in core subject areas such as math, science, social studies, reading as well as by grade range (elementary, middle school). While the quality ranges, there are many examples of useful, engaging materials that students will love.

Teachers can access videos by searching directly or browsing using the tabs. The “Video” tab provides a listing of all channels by subject along with options such as “recently added,” “most viewed,” “most discussed,” and “top rated.” One of the most viewed videos is a middle school winner on “Class Rules“

Class Rules

The “Channels” tab provides subject or category access:

Channels

There’s a wealth of teacher and performance talent. Of special note, is Mr. Duey Raps Fractions. Mr. Duey, originally from the suburbs of Detroit, raps to teach about math, social studies and English. This video is a sure hit and testimonials attest to the improvement in student scores:

Mr. Duey Raps Fractions

Other great videos are “Abbot and Costello math” and the “50 States and Capitals” song — Keep track of newly uploaded videos using the RSS feeds (at the bottom of the main screen). Videos may be played full screen by selecting the squarish symbol near the volume on the player:

Other teacher tube strengths are tutorials on a wide variety of topics, “partner videos”, (social studies as of this writing) and student works. Teachers can make and upload their own videos. Inappropriate videos are flagged for removal to keep the environment kid-friendly. “Featured videos” showcase new and/or interesting shorts. Great resource, especially for middle and high school!