Middle School – Page 6

Favorite Children’s Books

Earlier this week I was a parent reader in the class of one of our children. Although I’m an elementary math and science teacher I do really like children’s literature. We read with our mother nearly everyday growing up. One of our grandmothers was an elementary school librarian and she kept us supplied with books, books on tape, magazine subscriptions, and more. I was also blessed with many teachers that loved books. I made a conscious effort to read books to my students because I wanted them to see books being appreciated by a man, a mathematician and a scientist. Now, our home’s bookshelves overflow with children’s books as we enjoy reading to our own children. All that to say, I always have a difficult time selecting the books to read in these types of situations. Here are some of the reasons.

There are so many great books with which I want all kids to be familiar.
There are some books that I really want to read to them, but am nearly certain that they’ve already encountered them (Where the Wild Things Are). I’m never completely sure, though.
I like to read a book that our son or daughter especially likes and point this out to his or her classmates.
Reading a book with a moral purpose is always desired.
I like to narrate the story (with character voices and sound effects) which limits the pool of potential books to some degree.
Books based on television programs, computer games, websites, toys, etc. pretty much are not going to make the cut.
I want all the children to fall in love with the book.

Do you see why I have a bit of trouble deciding what to read? It’s a great delima with which to be faced, though!

Here are some of the books that received strong consideration.

I actually received input from many of this blog’s reader via Twitter. As a result, I thought it would be a useful idea and a lot of fun to mention and discuss your favorite children’s books here on the blog – thus, this post. So,…

What are your favorite children’s books?

UPDATE: Join this closely related discussion.

photo credit: ianus

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PBS Focuses on Digital Storytelling during May

I just ran across a couple of really good resources from PBS Teachers that I wanted to mention here. Here’s the first one.

May 1, 2008 – This month’s Media Infusion blogger, secondary school educator and filmmaker Joe Fatheree, looks at digital storytelling as a means to create independent learners, promote collaboration, improve research and writing skills, and educate the whole child. Fatheree takes readers through a step-by-step process of filmmaking that can be adapted for use in many contexts with students of varying ages.

“Technology has given us the ability to connect curriculum with the real world, and allow our students to step outside the boundaries of traditional classroom setting,” writes Fatheree.

PBS Teachers invites educators to visit Media Infusion in May and ask questions, comment on Fatheree’s suggestions or offer some of their own.

–From PBS Teachers

We the People…

I’m old enough to remember the Schoolhouse Rock videos airing between cartoons on Saturday mornings. I really liked (most of) them as a kid. I rediscovered them years later as a classroom teacher and was even more impressed by them. Not only do these videos cover a lot of curriculum they are also artistically impressive. My wife and I are getting to enjoy all the Schoolhouse Rock fun again with our kids.

We’re looking at integrating higher order thinking skills and word processing in one of my classes right now. The following video is connected to the lesson. Reminisce and enjoy!

Let’s share ideas about how any/all the following could be integrated with teaching and learning.

This or any Schoolhouse Rock video
Word processing technologies (desktop or online alternatives)
Higher order thinking skills

1 Thing

I’ve added a new feature to Clif’s Notes called 1 Thing. This special section is an area where guest bloggers can communicate “1 thing” they would like to share, suggest, say, demonstrate, etc. about a particular topic. This section will forever be a work in progress, so feel free to suggest guest bloggers and topics anytime. You can easily access this section by clicking on the 1 Thing link in the main menu.

Teaching and Learning with Squidoo

*DISCLAIMER: I’ve hesitated to share this resource because of the advertising and economics tied to it. I have given it a quick test and think that all of that stuff remains invisible. I’m sharing this resource because, in the right context, I see true potential in its integration with teaching and learning.

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Have you seen Squidoo? I would roughly describe it as a means of mashing up information from a variety of resources into a lens (as in the eye of a giant squid; fancy word for webpage). This is accomplished through customization and pulling together a good number of RSS feeds, favorites, bookmarks, page rankings/voting, etc. Lenses are ranked, money is given to daily winners, etc.* You can actually earn money for charity or for yourself just by using the service.* I have browsed through many of the existing lenses and been impressed by their quality. I am guessing that the whole free market competition model encourages quality effort as those with lenses with the highest use and approval are rewarded. Most of the ones I reviewed were by doctors, therapists, professors, etc. and all seemed well-credentialed. It is likely that you will find some lenses that you can use in your own classroom.

I haven’t completely made up my mind about what I think of Squidoo (I found it very, very late last night) but it has certainly given me some things to consider. Ideas for integrating it with learning and instruction have flooded my mind. In the right context it would be an interesting tool for teachers and learners to use for webquests, research, scavenger hunts, presentations, cooperative learning, online classes, a Web 2.0 activity, etc. Additional ideas and strategies are very end of this post.

There is also a section called Hey Monkey Brain where students can pick, research and debate a topic. Again, in the right context this feature has several positive educational implications.

I joined and threw together my own lens on the topic of educational technology. Take a look…

My Squidoo Profile: http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/clifsnotes
My Ed Tech Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/clifsnotes

You can setup your own free account using here.

Integrating Squidoo

I thought it might be helpful to all of us if we brainstormed ways to integrate the use of Squidoo with teaching and learning. Here are some of the ideas (classes, lesson topics, activities) that came to me.

Business
Economics
Research
Writing and editing
Information design
Current events
Math/ science/ health news and research
Travel planning/ virtual field trip scenarios
Marketing
Student designed and developed webquests
Homework helper
Tips for parents
Book reviews
Debate/ critical thinking/ persuasive writing
Newsletters
Service learning/ moral education
Instructional design/ lesson planning
Online/ web-enhanced learning
Focus on composers, painters, or sculptors
Communicate information and resources to teachers about particular special needsMuch of the above can be modified for use in foreign language classes

Happy Leap Day

It’s February 29th. Happy Leap Day everyone!!! Here are 15 activities to help you celebrate. You can also learn a bit more information about this date here.

On this date in…

1972 – Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
1956 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces to the nation that he is running for a second term.

7 Engineering Wonders of the Modern World

Wow! I’ve seen these engineering feats many times but I still find them impressive. Each has set world records in size, engineering, etc. “From Venice to Boston, Egypt to England, here are seven amazing engineering wonders of the modern world.”

How do you think students would respond to these images, stories, video, and information?

6.3 Earthquake in Nevada

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 shook Northeastern Nevada this morning at 6:16 AM. The quake was reported to have been felt in California, Nevada and Utah. Full details are available here.

Consider integrating this current event into your class. Off the top of my head there are good math, science, research, writing and service activities related to this event.

Classroom Resources

U. S. Geological Survey’s educational resources
Disaster News Network reports about disasters AND recovery efforts.
Center for Earthquake Research and Information
PBS’ Savage Earth
TeacherTube videos