Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Create Your Own Newspaper


Visit Making The News to utilize a template for creating your own newspaper for printing. Choose your template from Tabloid, Broadsheet, Old Newspaper or Magazine then add your text and images to create. What a great way to share student accomplishments with their parents or inspire students to write and publish their own works. Let your creativity guide you when create your own newspaper or magazine.

Free Playscripts for Students



If you need a site for locating playscripts to use with your students, visit Kidsinco where you can find a great variety to choose from. You can search by styles (fairy tale, fable, myth and more) or categories (from different countries, authors, songs, number of characters and more). Use these for practicing reading, anunciation, performing for your school or invite your parents in for a read-a-long play.

Teaching Poetry Made Easy

I remember fondly studying poetry in my high school English class. I know I studied, created and shared poetry prior to high school, but for some reason it did not have the same impact. Maybe it was the teacher or perhaps the freedom in exploration of poets that struck me. Regardless of what the reason was, my favorite poet is still Robert Frost. I can remember presenting my poem and research on Robert Frost to a class full of students. I created a poster with pictures and the poem written in large text. My only regret to the experience is that I did not have technology to assist me in creating my presentation. If I were to create the same presentation today, oh how different it would look. The same content would be there, but the delivery method so different.

As a classroom teacher, I always hoped to provide a spark in my students when we studied and created poetry that might stay with them as my love of poetry stayed with me. The Poetry Archive can assist any teacher in creating that spark. Whether you need information, lesson plans or ideas for activities, The Poetry Archive is a great resource for teachers (look in the For Teachers section). Under the Poets section, you can hear English language poets reading their own works. The Poem section lets you search for poems by title, form or themes. There is even a section for children's poetry (The Children's Archive).

If you need a resource to assist you in teaching poetry and making it easy, check out The Poetry Archive.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Where Do I Begin?

As educators, we are always looking for ways to keep our students engaged in the classroom and enhance learning. It is "easy" to search for new sites to share, but not so easy to narrow down and find the best ones to meet our needs and the needs of our students. If you need a place to begin or are tired of the hours you spend searching for safe and education friendly sites, you should visit Learning.com and take advantage of TIME. The one place that can assist you with simplifying this search for sites and curriculum related digital content. What you will find on the Texas Instructional Materials Exchange (TIME) will be TEKS aligned digital resources for use in the classroom. Locating resources in TIME is easy and you can be assured that what you find will be safe for your students. Watch this short video for more details.


TCEA and Learning.com present TIME from Learning.com on Vimeo.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Be a History Detective at the First Thanksgiving

Have you ever wondered what it was like at the First Thanksgiving celebration? My kids and I were discussing this on Thanksgiving. Long story short, we now know. Well, we have a much better understanding of what it might have been like. Visit Plimoth Plantation to experience history for yourself.

"In this fun, award-winning activity, kids take on the role of “history detectives” to investigate what really happened at the famous 1621 celebration. (Hint: It was a lot more than just a feast!) Along the way, they’ll read a letter written by an eyewitness to the event, learn about Wampanoag traditions of giving thanks, and visit Pilgrim Mary Allerton’s home. As a final activity, kids can design and print their own Thanksgiving exhibit panel."

Becoming a history detective with this interactive was a great learning experience. Plus it was fun for me and the kids to do together. There was analysis involved, determining fact from fiction and the teacher's guide gave me a path to use with them. I could see doing this in small groups or even as a whole group on an interactive whiteboard in the classroom.

Great activity/resource. Check it out!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Free Teacher Resource




Everything you need to make the most out of the incredibly engaging world of digital learning is at your fingertips with a free teacher account at Learning.com.

Sign up here today — for free!

SKY by Learning.com provides you with powerful teaching tools, better workflows for you and your students, practical professional development services and a thriving community of educators sharing best practices and peer-reviewed resources. Need digital curriculum? Use your free teacher account to find it.

NASA Content for STEM

While browsing through the Marketplace on Learning.com today, I was reminded of one of the great free resources available for teaching STEM...NASA. Ok, I know I live just down the road from NASA, but sometimes you forget about the resources that are in your backyard. Good thing that Learning.com has this free resource posted to remind me. If you haven't logged in lately to check out what is available in the Marketplace, you should do it now. When you visit the Marketplace, search by providers and you will find the NASA icon that is filled with resources for bringing to life the principles of engineering for students (K-8). Let students bring their problem solving skills to life by using their own creativity and innovation.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Microsoft in Education Teacher Guides

Do you need resources related to the Microsoft Office suite of products to assist you in the classrom? Take a look at these great Teacher Guides to get started. They contain teaching tips and step-by-step guides for popular teacher tasks, plus they are easy to use and are free. The Microsoft in Education site suggests using these teacher guides to learn ways to inspire your students and to better use new tools and technologies in class.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Digital Learning Day

This is such a great idea for the ed tech community.

From the Digital Learning Day site, "The first national Digital Learning Day is Wednesday, February 1, 2012. Join the Alliance and our more than 20 nationally recognized core education partners as we work together to rally support and action to enable digital learning everywhere. The Alliance for Excellent Education invites you – teachers, students, parents, principals, district administrators, as well as state and national education leaders – to engage in Digital Learning Day, a year-long campaign to celebrate bold, creative innovative teachers in classrooms across this nation."

Check out the Digital Learning Day site and be sure to sign up to participate.