Happy Halloween

 So here's my gatherings for this weekend... Hope Halloween doesn't suck your enthusiasm out of you this week....

Some Veteran’s Day links:
http://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate_americas_freedoms.asp
http://www.va.gov/kids/k-5/multicontent.asp?intPageId=3

READY-TO-GO: TeachersFirst’s ready-to-go, projectable classroom activities are designed for either whole class or student-centered use. (some really cool stuff here) http://www.teachersfirst.com/exclusives/ready-to-go.cfm

FEATURED SITES:
http://www.teachersfirst.com/feature-arch.cfm?id=288

For those of you who are thinking outside the box (or at least trying to) when it comes to math instruction… here’s an interesting TED TALK…
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-to-help-stop-math-from-sucking.html

Lastly.... For those interested in how we might use ipads in the classroom…..
http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/2011/10/38-sites-on-using-ipads-in-classroom.html#.Tqta02BveLG

Remind 101

This is an interesting tool that I am looking into using. REMIND 101 . It is a broadcast text messaging service. Phone numbers are NOT exchanged. Parents or students must sign up for the service. You can send out reminders to parents or students about upcoming class activities; field trips; tests; programs... anything that all of your class needs to know about.

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 10 Ways to be a Terrible Teacher

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 10 Ways to be a Terrible Teacher: Teaching is a noble calling. That is why when a teacher doesn't behave nobly it breaks trust and we get upset. I have to admit that I've h...

Random sites this week....

Globetracker's Mission is just one week from its official embarkation date. Read the preview episode now, then pack your bags. Plan to travel throughout North America via weekly episodes from October 23 until late April. Your students in grades 2-6 will learn standards-aligned geography, map skills, landforms, and more by following Geo and Meri's weekly blog. Vote to decide what the teens should do next. If you have Google Earth, trace the Mission with the Google Earth files offered with each episode. Find Globetracker's Mission any time from the TeachersFirst home page, under "Ready to Go."

http://www.abcya.com/ Computer Activities by grade level.

Mummy http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/mummy.html
A site for virtual mummification… includes instructions! 

You might want to consider signing up for the newsletter from We Are Teachers…. Great information, ideas and leads on grants big and small… http://www.weareteachers.com/

Have a great week! 

Focus on Science

WOW.... I haven't posted for a while... :-) ... guess we've all been kinda busy. 

This week I thought I would search through my bookmarks for SCIENCE Resources for everyone.

BBC – those folks across the pond have some really incredible online resources for their teachers. This one called Science Clips is divided up by age groups so you will have to sift through them. You may find content for 7 year olds that fits into our 5^th or sixth grade curriculum. Pretty cool though….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/index_flash.shtml

And one more from the UK -- http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/

Our own UEN has science interactives also. Third and fourth are on top, scroll down to see fifth and sixth:  http://www.uen.org/3-6interactives/science.shtml 

[UEN does not have a K-2 SCIENCE section but has a list of interactives  here: http://www.uen.org/k-2interactives/index.shtml  ]

UEN also sponsors the new version of sci-ber text. Sci-ber text is an online textbook written by Utah Science teachers (quite a while ago). It has content area reading and activities: 3^rd – 9^th grades http://www.uen.org/core/science/sciber/sciber4/
For those who like the original Sciber Text, it is here: http://utahscience.oremjr.alpine.k12.ut.us/

Windows2universe: I just stumbled on to this one. Has lots of “hands-on” activities>
http://www.windows2universe.org/php/teacher_resources/activity.php

 

Baltimore County Schools- This site is organized by their grade level standards—a bit different from ours, but LOTS of ideas and resources—you will need some time for this unless you are looking for a specific topic: http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/curric/elem/Escience.html

 

Science Spot - I have used this site for years. Lots of really usable stuff. This is the main site: http://sciencespot.net/ which is directed at Middle School but has lots of good ideas. My favorite section is the KidZone: (which is not linked to the main page) http://sciencespot.net/Pages/kidzone.html

This site is a list of really old “hands on” activities that have been around for ages. So old, in fact, you can tell some were typed on a typewriter. Most are very solid and classic learning activities.
http://youth.net/cec/cecsci/sci-elem.html

Have fun and teach some "hands on" science this week!