Oakland Schools Digital Learning
March 2023 Newsletter
In this issue you will find:
- resources for Women's History Month
- resources for Pi Day - March 14th
- ideas and resources for National Reading Month
- an opportunity to participate in Digital Learning Day
- a website with ideas to inspire student writing
- a tediously accurate scale model of the solar system
- a link to download poster sets on a variety of important topics from Smithsonian SITES
- a brain break from the Chrome Music Lab
- 10 Google Sheets hacks for teachers
- information about building an Apple Teacher Portfolio
- information about the Search Coach in Microsoft Teams that can be used to help students develop good search and evaluation strategies
- a ~2 minute video that shows how to finger knit
- resources from Discovery Streaming for March and test prep
- resources from Michigan Learning Channel for Women's History Month and many other lessons
Please reach out if you have questions about any of the information in this newsletter.
~Laura and VinosWomen's History
Women's History on Google Arts & Culture
Great resources for learning about historically important women can be found in Google Arts & Culture including:
- National Women's History museum with 22 online exhibits telling the stories of women in the peace movement, getting into the Olympics, serving in Congress and more
- Recovering American Women's History which tells about mining the Smithsonian Institution collections for stories of women in science
- Creating a Female Political Culture which was crucial to bringing about the acceptance of voting rights for women
You can find even more resources by conducting your own search for "women's history" on the main page of Google Arts & Culture.
Digital Classroom Resources from National Women's History Museum
Classroom-ready resources created by the National Women's History Museum and through the "For Educators, by Educators" initiative for Women's History Month are available here. There are lesson plans, biographies, posters, primary sources, and more. You can search by grade level, topic, theme, or resource type.
Pi Day - March 14
Pi Day Resources
- What is Pi? - Learn about pi and where it appears in mathematics
- Pi Symbol - Learn why the Greek lowercase letter, π, is used as the symbol
- 1,000,000 Digits of Pi - Get a visual of the first million digits of pi
- Fun Facts About Pi - 25 interesting facts about pi
- Pi Quiz - Study pi on the 1,000,000 digits of pi and then see how many pi digits you can recall by taking this quiz
National Reading Month
National Today has resources you could use to help promote a love for reading with your students. Discover fun facts about the timeline of books, such as the year the first book to ever be written was and when the first book club was started. Check out the site to learn about other holidays you can celebrate with your students such as National Write a Letter of Appreciation Week.
Digital Learning Day - March 15
Digital Learning Day (DL Day) is an annual event to promote the use of digital technology in education and highlight innovative ways in which teachers and students are using technology to enhance learning. DL Day focuses on the transformative power of technology in education and the need to prepare students for success in a digital world.
Join Oakland Schools and celebrate DL Day on March 15th or anytime during the week of March 13th. Find information on how to participate and enter to win a Digital Learning themed book for your classroom at this link: bit.ly/OSDLD
Digital Resources
Journal Buddies
On her website, Journal Buddies, Journal Buddies Jill shares a plethora of free journal ideas, creative writing prompts, and other topics for teachers to use with with students of all ages. You might even find some prompts to encourage your own writing journey. 😃
If the Moon Were Only One Pixel: A Tediously Accurate Scale Model of the Solar System
Created by Josh Worth, “If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel: A Tediously Accurate Scale Model of the Solar System” uses a horizontally-sliding HTML page to show how far it is from one planet to another, as well as their relative sizes, based on our Moon being just a single pixel in diameter (and everything lined up neatly in a row, which it never is.) Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the page or arrow keys to travel the distances or scroll with a mouse or a laptop's swipe pad. The astronomical symbols at the top of the page can be used to “warp” to each planet.
Smithsonian SITES Poster Exhibitions
Smithsonian SITES Poster Exhibitions provides you with access to poster exhibitions used at the Smithsonian. All exhibits are available in a downloadable (print your own) format. Already printed posters are also offered in limited quantities while supplies last. If you are lucky enough to have a printed set shipped to you, they are yours to keep and do not need to be returned to SITES. Kim Forster, a K-5 STEAM educator, requested and received the "Picturing Women Inventors" set. She is also the person who let us know about this great resource. (Thanks Kim! 😊)
Even when all printed copies have been distributed, the digital files remain available for download.There are currently 14 poster exhibitions available on request and they are free for educational use. You will need to complete a short form to access the download, but after you submit the form you will have immediate access to the download file. Each poster exhibition comes with a user guide that includes printing, mounting, and display recommendations, promotional resources, programming ideas, and educational resources.
Note: If you do not have a poster printer in your district or school and you want to print the posters in a large size, please contact the Oakland Schools Print Shop. They have reasonable prices, do a great job, can laminate, and they deliver!
Brain Breaks
Chrome Music Lab: Song Maker
Song Maker allows students to make a short song that repeats by clicking on the grid to add notes. Students can select from a few different choices for the type of musical instrument. Songs can be saved and shared with the provided link. No login required.
You can listen to a sample song here. Note that you can make changes to this song and save your own version via a new link.
Google Workspace
Apple
Build Your Apple Teacher Portfolio
A portfolio is a great way to curate and showcase your body of work as you create your own customized lessons and artifacts. Use your portfolio to easily gather ideas, capture reflections, and share with colleagues in collaborative professional learning experiences. When you build an Apple Teacher Portfolio, you’re encouraged to integrate creativity into the lessons you teach every day to help students activate prior knowledge, explore topics more deeply, and apply their learning to the world around them. Try the example activities and templates on the Apple Teacher Portfolio website for each of these phases to find fresh inspiration.
Once you become a recognized Apple Teacher, you’re ready to earn badges for creating new lessons to build your Apple Teacher Portfolio.
Microsoft 365
Search Coach
When students today search the web, they are faced with a plethora of results that includes false and misleading information. OECD studies show that only 10% of K-12 students can reliably distinguish fact from opinion, and even university students use ineffective strategies. The challenge of finding reliable resources increases every year.
Search Coach is a free app in Microsoft Teams that helps students to form effective queries and identify reliable resources. Think of it as a search engine with training wheels. Search Coach teaches skills in a supported environment which can later be applied with any search engine. While most search education focuses on analyzing results for reliability, the unique superpower of Search Coach is demonstrating how to form more effective search queries. To get the right answer, you first have to ask the right question. Students learn patterns that can help to avoid encountering most unreliable information in the first place. NewsGuard, a tool that shows students trust ratings for news and information sites, is embedded in Search Coach.
The video below, this one page guide, and the information here will teach you how to set up Search Coach lessons for your students.
Makerspace
Discovery Streaming
Note: Discovery Streaming subscription and login required to access the resources in this section. If you do not know if your school has a subscription please email laura.cummings@oakland.k12.mi.us.
Creatively Engage Students During Testing Review
SOS Instructional Strategies are the perfect way to keep students engaged while reviewing key content from the school year. With categories in summarizing, identifying key ideas and details, sequencing, and more, combining these strategies with Discovery Education Streaming resources adds some fun to learning and review. Use the recommended strategies page to find more instructional strategy ideas for a variety of subjects and skills.
Monthly Celebrations
Find timely resources for all grade levels for each of these celebrations in their channels. Sign in to your Discovery Education Streaming account and then select the link to explore.
Be sure to click on the correct grade band for your grade levelMichigan Learning Channel
Women's Suffrage, Movies, Pirates, and More
Yes, pirates! For Women's History Month MLC put together classroom resource collections for elementary school through high school. Meet women who have shaped history, discover untold stories, and learn about innovators of the present. Each collection has videos and extension activities that bring history to life. Take A Look
Kindergarten
- Read, Write, ROAR: "Making Friends and the Letter M"
- Math Mights: "Break Apart Numbers"
- InPACT at Home: "Animal Mindful Movements"
- The Good Eggs: "Gratitude"
- Read, Write, ROAR!: "Active Citizens Have Opinions"
- Math Mights: "Make Sense of Equations"
- InPACT at Home: "Lower Body Cardio"
- The Good Eggs: "Acceptance"
- Read Write ROAR!: "Around the World and the -ing Suffix"
- Math Mights: "Sort and Name Shapes"
- InPACT at Home: "Gymnastics Warm-Up and Stretching"
- The Good Eggs: "Respect"
- Read, Write, ROAR!: "Consonant-l-e Words and Creating Change"
- Math Mights: "Name the Parts of Fractions"
- InPACT at Home: "Lunge Matrix"
- The Good Eggs: "Responsibility"
Fourth - Sixth Grade
- Extra Credit: "Creative Expression"
- DIY Science Time: "Polymers"
High School and Above
- NASA: "Women in Astronomy"
MACUL Conference - March 16-17, 2023
There is still time to register for the 2023 MACUL Conference being held on March 16th & 17th at Huntington Place in Detroit. Visit maculconference.org for more information, including pre-conference workshops and a virtual track option.
Oakland Schools Digital Learning Team Information
Oakland Schools Digital Learning Consultants
Laura Cummings
Laura.Cummings@oakland.k12.mi.us
248-209-2283
Vinos Kassab
Vinos.Kassab@oakland.k12.mi.us
248-209-2229
Previous Editions of our Newsletter
Links to all previous editions of the Oakland Schools Digital Learning news can be found on our website.
Subscribe to our News!
If you do not receive our monthly newsletter directly from us, you can request to join our subscription list by completing this Registration Form.
Oakland Schools Digital Learning Twitter posts can be found at os_edtech.
When you are posting to Twitter about things related to digital learning and educational technology, don't forget to use the hashtag #oakedtech.
Using the hashtag will help Oakland County educators, who are interested in the effective use of digital learning, to connect and better collaborate with each other.