Newsletter December 5, 2014

TIS

THE SEASON

AND THAT

Volume 3, Issue 8

December 2014

Happy Holidays!

As we are in the thick of the holiday season, we hope each and every one of you is able to integrate learning opportunities into your lessons that are meaningful and reflect the spirit of the holiday season. See below for a few ideas:

Portable North Pole: https://www.portablenorthpole.com This site allows you to send kiddos a video from Santa, among other things! It is well worth the time to check it out, especially if you have young kids!

Learn about Hanukkah: http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/hanukkah The History Channel presents an account of the origins of Hanukkah along with littleknown facts and includes video.

In addition to a large number of websites available with holiday activities, students may use computer software to create holiday

Jinglebell Junction: http://jinglebelljunction.com

greeting cards, coloring

This website has information about free Christmas downloads, crafts, and homemade gift ideas.

pages, compose letters

Kwanzaa Webquest: http://www.cumbavac.org/images/kwanzaa.htm

to Santa or research projects about holiday traditions.

Create a webquest where students can learn cultural diversity by studying the traditions of Kwanzaa Christmas Around the World: http://www.crewsnest.vispa.com/journey.htm Students can learn about holiday traditions in other countries by clicking on that country’s flag.

In This Issue  Holiday Websites for home and classroom  Virtual Field Trips  F.B.I. Cyber Safety  Useful Apps  Bonus! Christmas Craft!

Christmas at The Greenbrier

Virtual Field Trip Can’t take a field trip due to bad weather or not allowed to sacrifice classroom time due to snow days?

How about taking a virtual field trip with your class? Simply choose a destination and log in to your computer for an internet search!

Snow Day Activities Both a blessing and a curse, snow days are a reality in education in West Virginia. While it is unrealistic to believe that all students have access to the internet at home, many do. It is only a matter of time until most, if not all, will be able to access their lessons from home or wherever they are. Looking to that future, here are a few sites for snow day activities: Snowy Day and Winter Lesson Ideas: http://www.teachhub.com/snowy-day-winter-lesson-ideas This website provides all kinds of ideas for all subject areas that can be used in the classroom during snowy days or on days when students are stuck at home.

Winter Math Activities: http://www.mathwire.com/seasonal/winter05.html - Great math activities that focus on Winter for all grade levels and math levels. Provides standards based math activities that you can prepare in advance for students, or simply share the site.

TeachersFirst’s Snow Day Resources: http://www.teachersfirst.com/spectopics/snowday.cfm - This page provides great links that students and teachers can use on a snow day or when you are preparing for snow day activities.

Snow Day Tips:  Establish a procedure in advance for students to access learning activities or assignments online.  Use a blog, wiki, or online learning management system to allow students to collaborate and/or ask questions.  Establish “office hours” when you will be available via an online platform to answer questions or give assistance.  Not all activities require internet access...have students create a sculpture from snow for Art class and take a picture of it, or create an outdoor cold-weather game for P.E. and write the rules and description of the game.  For students without internet access, prepare a “snow day” packet with alternative assignments.

Students can “visit” a historical battle site, a factory or business, West Virginia’s State Parks, or anyplace with a website. Break students into groups to “tour” and create a presentation showcasing where they have been on their “trip”.

Have students write descriptive essays of their visit as if they were there. They can describe what they saw, how the weather was, or even people they met. Map skills can be utilized by planning or tracing their route and plotting the location(s) that they visit on a map.

You or your students can create virtual field trips of your own by checking out sites of your choice, or visit http://tinyurl.com/y2p58tp for a great article on virtual field trips. In this article, you will find links to trips already created and more advice on creating your own!

Bridgeport Holiday Fireworks

FBI Child ID App In addition to the Safe Online Surfing Internet Challenge, the FBI has launched the FBI Child ID App. This app allows parents to easily store photos and other pertinent information in their smart phone about their child in case of emergency.

Visit your smartphone’s app store to check out and download the app to your phone.

West Virginia State Capitol Building

Cyber Safety Cyber Safety is one of the buzz words we hear frequently in education and pertaining to technology. But how aware are our students and their parents about the dangers that could be lurking online and how to teach our children to protect themselves from them?

Julia Benincosa Legg, State E-rate and Instructional Technology Coordinator at the Office of Instructional Technology, has release the following information: Gear Up for 2014-2015 FBI Safe Online Surfing Internet Challenge The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched the FBI Safe Online Surfing (FBI-SOS) Internet Challenge for the 2014-2015 school year. “Open to all public, private, and home schools nationwide, the initiative is a free, ageappropriate, competitive, and fun online program that promotes cyber citizenship and teaches students in third through eighth grades how to recognize and respond to online dangers—like Internet predators and cyberbullying— and covers topics such as social networking and gaming safety.”

“Last year, more than 75,000 students—from more than 1,300 schools in 45 states—participated in the challenge, and we hope to see even more on board this year. We encourage everyone to check out the site, but only teachers and administrators can register their classes to compete.” For more information and links see the article below. http://tinyurl.com/q2rxqj2 FBI Kids’ Website In addition to the Internet Challenge, the FBI hosts an entire site just for kids.

There are separate sections and activities for younger and older students.

Information includes not only safety tips, but the history of the FBI, A Day in the Life of an Agent, and even information about their canine program dogs.

This site can be accessed at: http://www.fbi.gov/fun-games/kids/kids and is appropriate for all students in Kindergarten through 12th grade.

Social Network at Work Does your staff enjoy social networking? Do you wish there was a social network that you could use for work? THERE IS ONE! Yammer is a private social collaboration network. It looks a lot like Facebook, but only those with verified company (WVDE) e-mail addresses can join.

Your staff can use Yammer to collaborate, share accomplishments, or network with other professionals in your school, district, or across the state. You can “follow” colleagues who may share pertinent information with you and the site also includes groups that you can join, or create your own group.

Sleeps to Christmas 2Christmas Countdown

by Dardan Software A great app, especially for kids of all ages, to countdown to Christmas.

It has all new animated Christmas characters and a soundtrack of popular Christmas songs. Plus, it is FREE!

To join Yammer, simply go to Yammer.com and sign in with your @k12.wv.us e-mail address.

Upcoming Training Opportunities The following professional development trainings are being offered in the spring by the West Virginia Center for Professional Development. These training sessions are a valuable avenue for the Technology Integration Specialist to update their knowledge. As a TIS, you may also wish to encourage staff members who want to learn more about implementing technology in their classrooms to attend. Registration is now open for these courses at http://www.wvcpd.org/EventUpcoming.aspx.

Training

Location

Date

Emerging Technologies to Engage Digital Learners

WVCPD Annex-Charleston

3/3/2015

Infusing Technology—iPad Basic Training

WVU-Parkersburg

3/9/2015

Infusing Technology—iPad Basic Training

Bridgeport Conference Center

3/18/2015

Emerging Technologies to Engage Digital Learners

Bridgeport Conference Center

3/18/2015

Emerging Technologies to Engage Digital Learners

Flatwoods Days Hotel

3/23/2015

Infusing Technology—iPad Basic Training

Beckley-Raleigh Convention Center

4/21/2015

Infusing Technology—iPad Basic Training

WVCPD Annex-Charleston

6/11/2015

Emerging Technologies to Engage Digital Learners

WVCPD Annex-Charleston

6/11/2015

This issue created by:

Vickie Blankenship, Franklin Elementary, vsblankenship@k12.wv.us Gayle Hickman, TIS—Wirt County Schools, gnicolai@k12.wv.us Dee Wright, Business Education—Poca High School, ddwright@k12.wv.us