If It Were My Home - Country Comparisons

      If you are looking for a new spin on doing country research, a new tool for teaching geography. Perhaps your class is discussing a current event and you need to build some background knowledge.  If so,  If It Were My Home would be a great site to visit.  

If It Were My Home will compare any country in the world with the US.  The facts are pulled from the CIA World Fact Book and presented in such a way that it makes the information more visual and engaging.

By choosing a country from the long list on the homepage, If It Were My Home takes the information and compares it to the same statistics in the US.   The visual color of the fact relates to positives or negatives. For example if Chile were your home instead of the US you would consume 73.8% less oil, which is colored green.



Facts can be expanded to give more information and where they gathered the facts from.  This is helpful in explaining how they came up with the data and percentages.  
If It Were My Home also places the map of the country over the geological location of the person researching.  With the image to the right, Chile is placed over the Eastern Oregon region to show a visual size comparison.  This is extremely helpful with younger students.

Below the list of colored facts there is also a short paragraph with more information about the chosen country.   Many times it is more about the history of the country and major issues that the country may have.  Below the more information section is often links to books that are recommended about the country.

Once in a certain country there is also the ability to take that country and compare to another one from the list.  So I can compare life in Chile to life in Argentina.  The same comparisons, data, and maps of the comparison will be generated.  I have to say, this website is addicting!  A note for classroom use, this is a free site and does contain ads once on the comparison page.  

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.

ZeeMaps - Creating Interactive Maps

Have you wanted students to create maps demonstrating their understanding of geographical concepts in locations throughout the world?

ZeeMaps is an online, iPad friendly, tool that allows someone to create interactive customized maps. Simply click "create a free map", enter in a title and a few more starting details about your map, and you are off and creating.




Start making your map interactive by adding markers, which could contain descriptions, photos, and video. You may also want to add map annotations, or colored regions.

Once finished, publish your map and obtain html code which can be used to embed the map onto a website or blog post.  Published maps are dynamic in that when you modify the map, it auto updates onto your website.  Below is an example I've started highlighting some tech rich environments in North East Oregon Classrooms. There are ads with the free version.


No account is needed to create a map if you plan on starting then finishing in one setting. However, to save and comeback later and make modifications, you will need to create an account. Accounts vary in pricing structure, as the free account is more than adequate for educational needs.

Ideas for students could be to create interactive maps demonstrating different ecological climates of the world, an interactive walking tour with photos and videos from historical stops from your town, or charting biographical locations of historical figures from a country. The list of projects is endless.

Free, easy to use, and adaptable for educational environments makes Zeemaps a nice tool for many opportunities.

Curriculet - Create your own online reading curriculum

Curriculet is a free site that allows teachers to add their own questions, annotations, links, and quizzes to books, pdfs, blog posts, or other online reading passages.

Creation of a class and adding students is all free, as well as many already uploaded free domain books and reading passages from ReadWorks.org.  In addition, uploading articles from blogs and other websites was simple by URL. Once uploaded, Curriculet changes the formatting, taking away all the ads and additional links, and allows for the adding of the teacher's own questions and quizzes.

Add Content via Files or URL or from the Curriculet Store

Example from TeenTribune article:

Add questions, annotations, or quizzes by click and holding.  Students can add their own annotations for their own notes as well, view able only to themselves. 

Student View of the book Call of the Wild

After assigning a book or passage to a class, teachers can monitor student progress by student or by question.  Adding students to a class requires adding by URL or a class "token" that they enter when signing up.  Students are required to use an email and teachers do not have access to change their passwords.   If students use Google, they can use a quick Google Sign In.

Curriculet is mobile friendly, working on any device that can access the internet.  This is great from BYOD situations, iPads, tablets, chromebooks, smartphones, etc.   More information about accessing newer titles, not just free domain, recently was posted on the their blog here.

It was easy to use and has a great guide for quick questions.  I personally would like to see the ability to have the text read aloud, but for the features it currently has, this site would be highly useful in any class!  

  

Celebrate Presidents Day with Online Tours and Great Resources!

Here are some great sites to visit in honor of Presidents Day!

My favorite is the Lincoln Memorial Interactive from the National Park Service .  This online interactive has amazing clarity, panoramas, and great video reflections from Park Rangers about the meaning and importance of both Lincoln and the Memorial.

Under His Hat is a website devoted to exploring who Lincoln was by using only primary sources.  By choosing "In the Classroom" you can pick a topic and click further to find lessons and activities to do with your students.  Great photos with 360 views and easy to understand information.  This is great for upper elementary on up!  

EarthCam of the Washington Monument

For Research and Fun Facts Elementary and Middle School Students can visit America's Story from the Library of Congress, Meet Amazing Americans    Check out the resources for  Abraham Lincoln  and George Washington.



For older students using primary source documents the Library of Congress Web Guide for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington  gives students access to amazing research tools.

If your class is studying George Washington the Mount Vernon Virtual Mansion Tour  is a fun spot to visit to see inside his home.

The History Channel has a nice history of Presidents Day with lots of fun links, from the evolution of the White House to our modern Presidents.  

CC Betterlesson - Aligned 'Road Tested' Lesson Plans

Need fresh ideas for your 6th graders in geometry?  Looking for supplements for your old textbook adoption to help you through the Common Core aligning?

Better Lesson in conjunction with NEA just rolled out the beta version of their new site cc.betterlesson.com on Jan 15th.  This site will continue to grow in free resources as the 138 teachers chosen, ranging from K - 12,  work together to complete a Common Core aligned courses for each area throughout this school year.

 

Each Standard will show the number of lessons that have already been uploaded for use.  



Easy to use lessons give the teacher an initial overview along with number of resources.  Lessons give time details, samples of student work, as well as possible video explanations, and/or reflections.

 

This is an impressive beginning to what will hopefully continue to be a growing resource. 

Xtramath : Math Fact Practice

Xtramath has become a very popular tool in our region allowing students basic math fact practice; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  This free online tool motivates students into practicing quick math facts, with a philosophy of a little bit of practice every day.

Once a student logs into the system, they are guided through their activities by a facilitator.  This facilitator will provide them with their instructions for the day.  In the beginning they take a placement quiz so the program can determine which questions they'll need more practice on in the future.  Each time after that the facilitator will guide them through a short practice exercise helping them improve their math fact recall.

These exercises are not intended to be long, as facilitator will prompt the student when they are finished.  The philosophy is a little practice every day.

When answering questions, students are proficient if they correctly answer the question in under 3 seconds.  The program will assist them if needed, however to "master" the math fact the student will need to repetitively answer the math fact correct in under 3 seconds.

As a teacher you will have the opportunity to view daily and weekly progress of your students work through a variety of reports.  This progress will provide much needed data to demonstrate student growth throughout the year.  Teachers in one elementary school have students keep track of their weekly performance on number lines posted on a classroom bulletin board.

When logging into the website, there are three modes: as a student, a teacher, or a classroom.  Using the classroom option allows the teacher to set up a computer in their room to reveal a list of their students in a drop down menu, so a student finds and clicks their name, enters their PIN, and they are in.

If you are in need of a tool to assist students with their math facts, Xtramath is the tool for your class.  Give it a try, you'll be set up and using it by the end of the week.  Click here for online videos or more information