Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts

Monday, March 17, 2014

No Time for Leprechaun Traps?

Did Leprechaun Traps fit into your lesson plans last week?  No?  Why not?  What can students learn from making a leprechaun trap?

It's the perfect project to hit the Four C's; creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, as well as hitting on some key CCSS and teaching engineering and science.  Lots of ideas are on the web, from kindergarten through higher grades.  Here are just a few I came across:

So if you missed out on this year, put it in your plans to revisit for next year.  
Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Friday, February 21, 2014

A Dozen Nonfiction Reading Resources for Students

As non-fiction reading becomes a higher priority in the educational environment, here is a list of non-fiction reading resources that may be of help to your classroom.  Teachers in Northeast Oregon use several of these sites, so I hope you may find a couple that can benefit your classroom or student as well.






  • Tween Tribune  Students find the news stories interesting and worth in reading.  There are four levels of articles including k-4, 5-8, 9-12, and Spanish.  Stories have thought provoking questions at the end to extend the readers mind.  Teachers can set up classroom environments to  help check for student understanding and allow for readers to submit comments. 
  • Newsela  Non-fiction and current news related events are written in student friendly articles.  Each article can be read under different Lexile reading levels consisting of 690, 830, 980, 1130, and max.  Articles can be filtered under 8 different anchor standards, including Central Idea, Word Meaning and Choice, or Point of View as a few examples.  Some of the article contain a quiz at the end to help check for understanding.  Teachers can set up classroom environments to help check for understanding and monitor student progress through passages. 
  • Youngzine  Readers enjoy reading a magazine containing articles and features tailored to the interests of students.  Also available are news related videos for a variety of mediums.  Teachers can set up classroom environments to help check for understanding and monitor student progress through passages.  If a student desires to be published, they can submit their article for future consideration. 
  • Dogo News  Students can search news content by grades or categories, view stories associated with a mapped location, and read through kid website reviews.  All resources have comments providing viewer feedback, and any article may be embedded into a blog or website.  Teachers can create a personalized learning environment for their students by created accounts. 
  • Wonderopolis  Each day a wonder of the day is published providing students answers to questions they may be curious about.  For example, what does it mean to be immune, or  what happens when lightning strikes a tree?  Each wonder contains a list of vocabulary associated with the article called "wonder words".  Wonders have a built in audio version, as well as investigation questions for those more curious minds.
  • Scholastic News  A variety of article and videos are available from Scholastic at News for Your Classroom.  In one click students can navigate to other elementary grade level magazines or secondary subject matter magazines.  If you need magazines in Spanish, French, or Dutch, they are also available.
  • Science News for Students  A nice variety of articles related to all sorts of science related topics are available to read.  Several student resources are available including ideas for student projects, digital badging, and Eureak! lab.  A section of Science in the News offers feature articles, bizarre or gory details, and viewpoints providing a variety of scientific reading experiences.
  • Time for Kids  You've read Time magazine, now there is Time for Kids, TFK, containing current related article from topics all around the world.  Students can read articles from Kid Reporters, view photos, and watch videos.  TFK created Mini Sites intended to host many articles under one topic, like the Olympics or Antarctica.   Create logins to access quizzes, worksheets, and more.
  • Hey There Everywhere  A good selection of articles with containing information in a variety of mediums and styles.  For instance an article may be read as an interview, or another article may contain videos supporting written content. In searching through archives, one can choose from a category or by a month/year.
  • GoGo News   Student friendly news and student friendly topics are available under different topics including Planet, Animals, and Picks.  There is also a free app designed for mobile environments availabe from GoGo News.
  • Teaching Kids News  Timely relevant news articles are available for kids, parents, and classrooms. Articles contain extension questions, grammar features, and discussion prompts allowing for more in-depth exploration of topics.  For the most part, content is written for grades 2-8.
  • Our Little Earth   Stories are written to provide students an opportunity to learn about current issues happening in today's world.  Every two weeks an issue is published.  Teachers can sign up to have the issue delivered to your email inbox for free.


Friday, April 15, 2011

Plant Life Cycle


Here is a nice online interactive displaying the many different stages of the lifecycle of a plant. Great for a online visuals, and includes a nice online plant identification interactive.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Need a Math/Sci Video - Khan Acadamy

There is an amazing collection of short videos explaining many, many math and science concepts across the curriculum. These segments are short, focusing on one concept with a few good examples to clarify the lesson.

As one digs deeper into the website, teachers will find a link to "watch" videos, and a link to "practice" concepts taught from those videos. To practice concepts you will need to login with an account, and Khan Acadamy accepts current Google accounts. This becomes a very nice implementation for schools that are integrating Google Apps.

Practice includes answering math questions from a selected level, levels starting at basic arithmetic up through Calculus. Khan Acadamy monitors student progress through their online practice. As a teacher you can sign up as a coach, allowing you to monitor your students progress through their individual practice. You need to have students associate their logins with you as their coach.

Khan Acadamy is great for supplementary materials supporting students that need additional explanations, or those absent from a given class. It is definitely worth the bookmark.