March 2003
Administrators | General | Grades K-2 | Grades 3-5 | Grades 6-8 | Grades 9-12
Free Monthly newsletter of TEAMS Distance Learning
http://teams.lacoe.edu
and MathStar http://mathstar.lacoe.edu
At this writing many events of historical worldwide significance are occurring at home and halfway around the world. Students are caught in the throes of family members and loved ones leaving home to protect the freedoms we often take for granted in our own community and neighborhoods. It may be a time for reflection about and appreciation for what we do have and how we might make things safer and better for those here at home.
The majority of those in the United States today have roots that originated elsewhere. What does it mean to become American? What experiences are universal for America's immigrants and what experiences are unique? What types of things does an individual lose and what does one gain through the adoption of a new country?
Becoming American: the Chinese Experience
PBS documentary will air on March 25th, with a companion Web site of lesson
plans, historical artifacts, individual stories, and classroom activities.
http://www.pbs.org/becomingamerican/index.html
Say Hi to a GI
Communicate with U.S. military troops all over the world and show them
you appreciate their efforts to sustain our freedoms here at home.
http://www.sayhitoagi.com/
The Iraq Conflict
Time for Kids provides resources for students with articles, facts, viewpoints,
questions and answers. Find out who's who, what nations are involved,
explore an historical timeline, and investigate further what the conflict
is all about.
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/iraq/0,8805,424876,00.html
Children everywhere, whether they live in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chile, Ghana, Korea, or the United States, need to feel encouragement, safety, support, and love from others. Despite the apparent strife, misunderstandings, and political difficulties that surround us, you can help children feel supported and motivated to learn. Education is the way to help understand cultural differences; working together on a common goal will help us learn how to cooperate.
Thanks for all you do to help world peace, one child at a time…
Administrators
The Administrator's Corner of Instructional Technology
Are you keeping up with the administrative choices and growth expectancies
required of you to help students learn through instructional technology?
One professor of instructional technology for teachers finds that many
administrators are not adequately prepared to facilitate student learning
using technology.
http://www.thelearningcurve.org/docs/AdminCorner.pdf
AfterSchool.gov
Resources designed to help support children and youth during out-of-school
hours.
http://www.afterschool.gov/cgi-binh/home.pl
Best Practices for the Principal as an Effective Instructional Leader
Two major education organizations have studied effective instructional
leadership. What did they find are best practices among successful principals?
http://www.knowledgeloom.org/practices3.jsp?location=1&bpinterid=1253&spotlightid=1253
EvaluTech
Searchable database of more than 7000 reviews of instructional materials
recommended for K-12 classroom use.
http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/
Excellence for All: The Progress of Hispanic Education
and the Challenges of a New Century
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, describes the importance
of "bi-literacy"
in bilingual education and the need to address new concerns to meet the
high educational standards.
http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/03-2000/000315.html
How Leaders, Teachers, and Parents Promote Responsibility
Marvin Marshall offers some great ideas in these pdf articles, "Instructional
Model" and "Levels of Development", based on his work,
Discipline without Stress, Punishment, or Rewards.
http://www.marvinmarshall.com/aquickstart.htm
If I Can't Learn From You... Ensuring Highly Qualified
Teachers for Every Classroom
This "Quality Counts" research report from EdWeek points out
that schools that serve high minority and high poverty students have the
greatest gap in student performance as well as the highest numbers of
non-credentialed teachers, inexperienced teachers, or teachers who are
teaching outside of a major or minor area of preparation. What are districts
doing to recruit and keep highly qualified teachers?
http://www.edweek.org/sreports/qc03/
The Knowledge Loom
Best practices in instruction and learning are highlighted on this site.
http://www.knowledgeloom.org/index.jsp
Promoting Student Success: Remediation Planning
Guide for Districts and Schools
Califronia Standards Test Blueprints are designed to help districts and
schools support all students in meeting the content standards they need
to pass the CAHSEE.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/star/resources/blueprints.html
Providing Data for Your Board
Article by Linda J. Dawson who suggests four guiding principles for how
data should be presented to school boards.
http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2002_12/LaFee_Dawson.htm
School: Culture vs. Climate
ASCD presents a look at what creates a school's culture and what contributes
to a school's climate in this tutorial on "School".
http://webserver2.ascd.org/tutorials/tutorial2.cfm?ID=41&TITLE=School
STAR Test Prep
The best preparation for STAR is good instruction aligned to the California
Academic Content Standards.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/star/regs/testprep.pdf
Transforming Education for Hispanic Youth: Exemplary
Practices, Programs and Schools
Brochure by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood and Walter G. Secada explains the
Hispanic dropout problem and gives recommendations and solutions for change.
http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/ncbepubs/resource/hispanicyouth/hdp.htm
What is Cheryl Learning?
Article by principal Romero O. Marquis pointing out the vast changes in
educational technology over the past few years.
http://www.thelearningcurve.org/docs/Cheryl.pdf
Wisdom of the Ages
Educational leaders offer tips to administrators to help them improve
their excellence as leaders. Presented by Missouri's Successlink.
http://successlink.org/woa/index.htm
General
Art Kids Rule!
Art lessons, activities, resources, and tutorials for students and teachers.
http://artkidsrule.com/
Astronomy Lessons
Dr. Jamie Love provides free astronomy lessons each month that can be
used for students from 4th through 12th grades. Web resources are also
included.
http://www.synapses.co.uk/astro/
Authentic History Center
This social studies teacher has cultural "artifacts" from the
Civil War to the present,
including posters and actual recordings from various time periods.
http://www.authentichistory.com
Black Wings
Early pioneers in aviation inspired Blacks to become pilots. Read about
Bessie Coleman, James Herman Banning, Thomas C. Allen, and William J Powell,
among others.
http://www.nasm.si.edu/features/blackwings/hstory/story01a.html
BookLog
Online book log can be utilized as a student's reading record for the
school year. Available for a modest subscription, a school or district
can continue the subscription year after year for a literary record of
a student's progress.
http://www.booklog.org/
Colossal Directory of Children's Book Publishers
Have you ever tried to publish a book you have written, or do you have
students who are gifted writers?
http://www.signaleader.com/childrens-writers/
EarthGuide
Portal to Earth science from environmental issues to oceanography, photosynthesis
to global change, this educational site for all grade level students and
teachers is presented by the California Space Institute at Scripps Institution
of Oceanography and students at UC SanDiego.
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu
Electronic Field Trips
Insite Distance Learning from the Teacher's College at Ball State University
provides free field trips with live 90-minute broadcasts via satellite,
webcast, and PBS/cable. The next trip for 7-12th grades is to Wrigley
Field to learn about the pioneers in women's baseball. There are also
two more field trips this school year involving grades 1-9 for May of
2003.
http://www.bsu.edu/web/eft/
Helping Kids Deal with the Space Shuttle Tragedy
Education World provides some helpful ideas to help students cope with
NASA's recent loss.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev042.shtml
Integrating Folklore, Music and Traditional Culture
into K-12 Curriculum
Educational CyberPlayground offers a wealth of resources to sites dealing
with folklife including music, dance, lessons, artists, grants, professional
organizations, and more.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/folk.html
Jokes and Science
Fun jokes appropriate for kids with science facts interspersed throughout
the site.
http://www.juliantrubin.com/sciencejokes.html
K-12 Resources for Music Educators
Sections for band, choral, orchestral, and classroom music resources as
well as commercial links and music research resources presented by Cynthia
Mazurkiewicz Shirk.
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/staffpages/shirk/k12.music.html
KaleidoDraw
Experiment with color, design, and shape while creating symmetrical designs
using this applet created for the Long Island Children's Museum.
http://www.licm.com/noFr.f/kalNF.html
Kids Connect
Internet gateway indexed alphabetically and maintained by teachers.
http://kidskonnect.com/
Level Estimator
Help determine your student's reading level using this quick assessment
for reading.
http://pt.liverpool.k12.ny.us/reading/levelestimator/estimator.htm
Math and Science Initiative
The U.S. Dept of Education has issued a math and science initiative with
three primary goals: to engage everyone's effort in math/science teaching
reforms, to train and maintain teachers with strong backgrounds in math
and science, and to research methods that improve student learning in
math and science.
http://www.ed.gov/inits/mathscience/
Music and Copyright Laws
Resources provided by the Educational CyberPlayGround concerning copyright
issues and music.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Music/musiclaw.html
Online!
Web site for Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources by Andrew
Harnack and Eugene Kleppinger. Find detailed advice for citing online
sources, as well as URLs from the text of the book.
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/index.html
Pics4Learning
Copyright-friendly image library for teachers and students.
http://www.pics4learning.com/
Reasons Why the English Language is so Hard to
Learn
The author presents several very specific reasons why English can be so
difficult to learn.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Literacy/reading.asp
Science.gov
U.S. government science and technology site with links to government agencies,
including research and developmental results, science-related curricular
content, and science education.
http://www.science.gov/
SuccessLink
Teaching resources originally geared for Missouri teachers, but lessons
and resources are available for all.
http://successlink.org/
Teaching with the Web
Resources for teachers and students indexed by grade levels: K-2, 3-5,
6-8, and 9-12 developed by Jerrie Cheek and Dr. Traci Redish at the Educational
center at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/teaching.htm
Tech4Learning
Software replacement for Hyperstudio called MediaBlender is found here.
Also contains links to free clipart images.
http://www.tech4learning.com/
Virtual Checkers
Play checkers with the computer.
http://sendafriend.com/checkers/
What Must Every Educator Know to Teach a Diverse
Population?
Lily Wong Fillmore asks some valid questions about the preparation of
teachers in meeting the needs of students in their English language learning.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Literacy/What%20Every%20Educator%20Lilly%20Wong%20Briefing.PDF
Women's History
Resources and links dealing with women's issues including biographies
of famous women, women's contributions, historically and socially, and
career links for women.
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/womens_history.html
Women's Studies
Links for Women's History Month from TEAMS Distance Learning.
/documentation/places/history/history/us.html#Women's
Grades K-2
The Alphabet Express: An English Language Arts
Unit
Grade Level: Kindergarten, by Tammie Silvia
http://www.esc20.k12.tx.us/etprojects/formats/sampler/fall99/alphabet/default.html
Big Ideas in Beginning Reading
Project of the Oregon Department of Education to help all children read
proficiently by the end of third grade.
http://reading.uoregon.edu/index.php
Data Analysis for Lower Elementary Grades
Lessons for K-2 math to help students meet data analysis standards.
http://www.gis.net/~aligall/data/
ESL KidStuff
Resources for teachers who require materials for teaching ESL students.
Also resources are helpful to primary and early childhood education teachers.
http://www.eslkidstuff.com
Feeding Time
Practice telling time using this Shockwave practice game from Little Fingers.
http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/clock.html
K-2 Teaching Resources
From the Educational Learning Center at Kennesaw State University, come
these theme activities, lessons, and games for grades K-2.
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/k-2.htm
Little Animals Activity Centre
The BBC presents this animated interactive site with stories, puzzles,
math and word games, music, and poetry for young children.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/menu.shtml
Sight Words
First through fourth grade sight words which can be printed and used for
student learning.
http://www.le.liverpool.k12.ny.us/santangelo/readwritesite/sightwords2.htm
Snakes and Ladders Game
Game for one or two players. Students "roll" the die and move
the marker the correct number of spaces. Ladders can help you move along
faster or snakes can help you slide back.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/games/snakes.shtml
Teaching Ideas for Primary Teachers
Lots of resources for lessons, activities, projects, time-fillers, literacy,
science, numeracy, history, technology, and more from Great Britain.
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/
Grades 3-5
Book Browser
Suggested book lists for children from preschool through sixth grades.
http://www.le.liverpool.k12.ny.us/santangelo/readwritesite/bookbrow3456.htm
Children's Literature
Author information, literature lesson plans, Cyberguides, and WebQuests.
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/childlit.html
Cures for Space Travelers
NASA Kids takes a look at how astronauts exercise, and stay healthy despite
large doses of radiation, illnesses or injuries that can take place in
space.
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2003/News-Medicine.asp
Explorer Project
Follow this Fathom Expedition Project to the Antarctica where daily posting
and photos will keep you abreast of the weather, wildlife, and explorations
of the experts and students on this trip.
http://www.fathomexpeditions.com/explorer/index.html
Grade 3-5 Themes
The Educational Technology Center at Kennesaw State University presents
these theme resources especially for grades 3-5.
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/3-5.htm
Money Unit: Grade 5
Lesson created by Sandie Andrews teaches students about money as they
solve problems relating to money, make change using different strategies,
and communicate about the value of and problems created by money.
http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/RR/database/RR.09.96/andrews1.html
Peace Project
Fifth grade student essays, PowerPoint presentations, reports, and a gallery
of pictures, symbols, and photos representing peace. How can you succeed
in allowing PEACE to be a part of your life? Presented by students of
Lori Alighieri.
http://www.gis.net/~aligall/fsc/index.htm
Photo Activity for Symmetry
The human face is perfectly symmetrical, right? Here's an activity to
help your students find out more.
http://regentsprep.org/Regents/math/symmetry/Photos.htm
Using Live Insects in Elementary Classrooms
Twenty integrated lessons including science and math activities that use
live insects to help teach health-related topics.
http://insected.arizona.edu/uli.htm
Vocabulary: The Key to Improving Comprehension
Scholastic presents lessons to help students improve their vocabulary
as well as reading comprehension.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/instructor/readclin4.htm
Grades 6-8
Absolute Egyptology
From the Dawn of History, the Dynasties of the First Kings, the Great
Pyramids, the Time of Decline, Resurrection, and Foreign Rule, find vast
detailed resources presented by Ottar Vendell.
http://www.nemo.nu/ibisportal/0egyptintro/index.htm
Anti-Slavery and Women's Rights 1830- 1845
Historical highlights and primary resources from two controversial reform
movements of their time: the equality of women and the abolition of slavery.
Includes teaching resources from the staff of Old Sturbridge Village.
http://www.osv.org/education/docs/antislavery/index.htm
Building Homes of Our Own
This interactive teaching tool developed for middle school students presents
a detailed view of the entire home building process from site selection
to final sale. Players collect information, solve problems and make choices
as they build a 3D home within a prescribed budget. When complete, players
review credit applications and sell to the buyer of their choice.
http://www.homesofourown.org/default.asp
Getting Ready for College Early
Handbook for parents of students in middle and junior high school years.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/GettingReadyCollegeEarly/
Figure This! Challenge Index
A series of 80 math challenges for Middle School students based on real
world questions. The content areas covered are algebra, geometry, measurement
and number sense. Over the next several years there will be an increase
in the number of challenges posted.
http://www.figurethis.org/challenges/challenge_index.htm
Lessons to Motivate Underachieving Math Students
Math lessons using topics of interest to students, using Web sites, spreadsheets,
HyperCard stacks, mathematical models, interactive online exercises, and
more.
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/mccall/mainlesson.html
March Madness WebQuest
Analyze the statistics leading up to the NCAA Basketball championship
games.
http://www.madison.k12.ky.us/district/projects/WebQuest/MarchMadness/mmwebquest.html
Middle School Teacher/ Student Resources
A wide variety of resources in many subject areas including art, language
arts, math, music, science, and social studies from the Educational Technology
Center at KSU.
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek1/
State Kid
Fictional novel about a young foster child who ran from abuse and ended
up in a state juvenile prison. He used his talents in reading, writing,
communication skills and media savvy to create a new life for himself.
The author, George Pollock, had also been a foster child from ages 5-
17. He published his book online, one chapter at a time, over the past
year.
http://www.statekid.com/
Web Sites for Teens
AfterSchool.gov provides this site for teens to explore the Internet,
check out Teen Issues, and discover learning resources just teens.
http://www.afterschool.gov/kidsnteens2.html
Word Problem/ Interest Rate
Tutorial explaining how to find the simple and compound interest rates
in word problems.
http://www.gomath.com/algebra/interest.php
Grades 9-12
2003: A Space Tragedy
Lesson plan for middle and high school students examining the Space Shuttle
Columbia disaster.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20030203monday.html
Activist or Reformer?
This WebQuest investigates the climate of the United States in the early
1960's. Students are to explore the lives of Civil Rights participants
and see how their involvement affected change during that time.
http://www.esc20.net/etprojects/formats/webquests/spring2000/ulvalde2282k/krb/default.htm
Business Letter Writing WebQuest
Information for a high school business communication course including
the different parts and types of business letters, effective communication
in writing, and the proper way to address a business letter envelope.
http://students.gvc.edu/julie.freeman/WEBQUESTS/BUSLETWQ.HTML
Citation Styles
Current citation styles including MLA, APA, Chicago, CBE, and other sources
of online citation styles from Bedford/ St. Martin's.
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html
Conic Sections Project, Mathematics Project
Grade Level: 9 - 12, by Kimberly Andreassi, Wendy LeJava, and Michael
Sullivan. Parabolas, ellipses, circles, and hyperbolas are explored.
http://www.geocities.com/kimandreassi/conicsections.html
Early College High School Initiative
Motivated students attend small early College High Schools to receive
both a high school diploma and an associate degree with two years of college
credit toward a bachelor's degree by the time they would normally graduate
from high school.
http://www.earlycolleges.org/Index.html
Equality for All?
WebQuest encouraging students to evaluate whether or not our society provides
equal opportunity for all.
http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/fellows/delavan/webquest/dldindex.html
High School WWW Resources
Links to resources in fine arts, language arts, mathematics, science,
and social studies for high school students and teachers compiled by Jerrie
S. Cheek from the Educational Technology Center at KSU.
http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek4/
Meeting Point
Site for teenagers from all over the world to find out more about their
countries, cultures, and interests. Site is directed by teachers, but
participation by students is highly encouraged.
http://www.meetingpoint2000.it/
Mobile Phone/ SMS/ Instant Messaging Ongoing Research
Research is currently being conducted to find out the impact of instant
feedback through technology among today's teenagers. Here are some recent
articles of interest for those of you who are concerned about the current
trends.
http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~nalinik/mobile.html
Nick's Mathematical Puzzles
Nick Hobson has created this website dedicated to math puzzles for geometry,
probability, number theory, algebra, calculus, and logic. Includes hints,
answers with fully worked solutions and new puzzle additions weekly.
http://www.qbyte.org/puzzles/
Smaller Learning Community Grants
High Schools can apply now to receive funds to help support the smaller
learning communities program.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/HS/SLCP/
Statistics and Probability
Resources for statistics and probability including lessons, tutorials,
projects, WebQuests, and more from Jerrie S. Cheek at the Educational
Technology Center at KSU.
http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek4/statistics.htm
CyberScoop Archive Page
TEAMS Support Page
Electronic Hallway