S'more Stuff....September
One Stop Shop of Research, Ideas, and Opportunities to Grow
Research and the Insight it Provides on Our Roles as Educators
The Social Impact of a Teacher – These same teachers also contribute to a:
- 19% drop in welfare dependence
- 22% drop in divorce
- 19% drop in smoking
- 12% drop in obesity
- 28% drop in incarceration
Check it out!!!.....Tip #1
TeenTribune, TweenTribune,TTEspañol and TTJunior – the daily news sites for kids, tweens and teens
Free site for teachers to assign news stories to their students that are selected by professional journalists working closely with teens, tweens and educators. All of the articles are personalized for each of your student's individual lexile levels!
What are the 10 best ways to use the sites?
- Kill three birds with one stone: Meet requirements for reading, writing and computer technology.
- Encourage expression: Pick a controversial story and ask students to post a persuasive argument for their opinion. Or ask students to find a comment they disagree with, then ask them to post facts that make an effective, opposing argument.
- Teach basic online skills to the youngest students: Sign up, log in, browse and blog.
- Tap the topic you teach. If you teach Science, ask your students to comment on Science stories. If you teach Art, Health, World History or Technology, there's a topic for you.
- Start a conversation. Ask every student to blog on a particular story, then use their responses as the basis for classroom discussion.
- Divide and conquer. Grade your students on spelling, punctuation & grammar on Week 1, then oral expression on Week 2, then written communication on Week 3. Create rubrics for each, then rinse and repeat. New stories appear every day, so there's no risk of repetition.
- Test comprehension. Ask students to post a summary of the day's top stories to demonstrate that they understand.
- Foster collaboration. Ask teams of students to present a "newscast" based on the stories they like best.
- Meet Reading and Writing Common Core Standards: See list
- Make it a homework assignment. TweenTribune is where kids are when they're at home - on the computer.
Click on the Links Below to Preview a Few of the Latest Articles on Various Subjects
300-Year-Old Sunken Treasure Offers More Than Gold Coins
Scientists Find Key to Obesity
Football's Future? Quarterbacks Training With Virtual Reality
Tween Tribune Directions
You can even individualize the articles to their lexile levels when you create their accounts!
Check it Out!!!...Tip # 2
We've Created a Schoolwide 30 Day Free Trial. If Enough Folks Like it... We Will Purchase it For All!
This is a really cool website that teaches vocabulary, concepts, and current events through hip-hop songs, videos, and lessons. The videos touch all grades and content areas and have aligned support lesson materials.
You now have unlimited access to Flocabulary's online library.
Click this link to begin your free Flocabulary trial:
http://flocabulary.com/access-group-activation/woodward-academy-8
Digital Citizenship Video About Oversharing
Five Things (Elements of a Short Story)
Orders of Operation
Check it Out!!! ...Tip #3
What???? Teacher Free Accounts on Powtoon for a Limited Time! Create Animated Videos and Presentations Quickly and Easily!
Free E-Book on Creating Innovative Animated Videos
11 Quick and Amazing Ways to Use Powtoon in the Classroom
Directions for Creating your Free Account--Act RIGHT AWAY!
Tweet Out How You are Using These and Other Tools in Your Classrooms Using the Hashtag #WALower
Susan Fisher
@fishersu
http://www.scoop.it/t/technology-tools-for-education
Woodward Academy Lower School
Rebecca Dearolph
@dearolph