FOCUS ON LEARNING
I hope you can skim this newsletter sometime during the week. Much of the information is time-sensitive, so take a quick look at, and click on those links that interest you. Please contact me any time if I can help you with anything at all.
I am available all week: please email, call or text anytime to set up a time to get together!
CILC: Center for Interactive Learning & Collaboration www.cilc.org
There are some fantastic free opportunities available, especially over the next few months that you won’t want to miss! I receive their updates in my email – and you can too! Just register for a free CILC membership. Please note: you must be a CILC member to participate in their programming.
A few great programs that caught my eye this week include:
**A Celebration of Dr Seuss! https://goo.gl/BCnAou
Join us for this fun, interactive lesson to celebrate the birthday of the beloved children’s
author Dr. Seuss! This distance learning event focuses on fun facts about Theodor Seuss Geisel and his classic story “Green Eggs and Ham”. Students will get to express their creative side in group activities while completing a craft designed for this program. It’s a “Seussical” good time!
This FREE program is available at a variety of times from February 26 – March 3, but you must be registered ahead of time to participate!!
**A House Divided: Civil War https://goo.gl/TYdrqH
The Civil War tested and consumed the country for more than four years. Explore how this great conflict and subsequent Reconstruction period are depicted through the traditional mediums of painting and sculpture, as well as the then new medium of photography.
This FREE program can be used with a variety of age groups and can fulfill standards in Visual Arts, History, Civics, Reading, Speaking and Listening and Historical Thinking. Again, registration ahead of time is required (and free membership in CILC).
Educational Games: https://goo.gl/n1aXGM (appropriate for upper grades)
Interested in a little game playing? This article, Three Awesome Educational Games Hiding in Plain Sight, published on MindShift, and written by one of Common Sense Education’s authors, highlights three games that can be used in the curriculum that can be extremely meaningful for your students. They were all viewed favorably by Common Sense Media, and they truly foster 21st Century Learning and great cross-disciplinary experiences.
Newspapers in Education: http://www.ppnie.com/learning-tools/list.php (All ages!)
The Newspapers in Education (which all of you can subscribe to FREE) has a great resource of learning tools for all grades and content areas. On my quick search I found extremely usable and interactive tools for teaching math, geography, test prep, history, career planning, and much more. It’s well worth a look, no matter what you teach.
CNN10 Current Events: http://www.cnn.com/cnn10
Looking for a way to share current events with your students, but don’t want to spend all your time (or theirs) searching the web? CNN10 provides a 10-minute daily digital news show that explains global news to your students. Don’t have time for this during class? Try flipping your classroom by assigning students to watch just 10 minutes a day.
The Learning Network: https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning
Looking for other sources of news for your students? The New York Times’ Learning Network provides news articles, plus articles written by students, writing prompts, students opinion polls, games and contests that will engage your students, and pique their interest in our world.
Smithsonian TweenTribune: https://www.tweentribune.com/
Smithsonian’s Tween Tribune has sections for each grade level (K-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-12), plus sections in Spanish. It includes current events lesson ideas for students, leveled reading passages, and more.
DOGONews: https://www.dogonews.com/
DOGONews features award-winning non-fiction content and a huge assortment of ready-to-use assignments. You can use the free version and get all you need – but if you’re really excited about this site you can also get a pro license that provides even more lessons, reading comprehension, critical thinking and vocabulary in context.
Winter Olympics: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson250.shtml
The 2018 Winter Olympics are just weeks away! Education World provides a great list of links related to the olympics, as well as some wonderful ideas for celebrating the olympics in almost any grade level or subject area. Start your olympic planning today with this terrific resource!
Laurie Conzemius LLC 