Vol. 2, Issue 3 September 10, 2013
Tech News Tuesday weekly eNewsletter IN THIS ISSUE Cool Tool of the Week – Constitution Day and Citizenship Day Student Tech Mentors Wanted Online Resource of the Week – September 11: Personal Stories of Transformation Mobile App of the Week – News-O-Matic Focus On – Race 2 Achieve $$$$$$ Funding – 6 grants to fund classroom and school projects
TECH NEWS TUESDAY
| Vol. 2, Issue 3 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
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Constitution Day and Citizenship Day on Tuesday, September 17th September 17th-23rd Constitution Week
Table of Contents
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WEEKLY ENEWSLETTER PROVIDING INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY STAFF RESOURCES
Cool Tool of the Week
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is a combined event that is annually observed in the United States on September 17. This event commemorates the formation and signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787. It also recognizes all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become US citizens. The Interactive Constitution on the National Constitution Center’s website lets students search the United States Constitution and find relevant passages and explanations. Students will discover how the Constitution relates to more than 300 topics, from civil rights to school prayer, including Supreme Court decisions.
http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services showcases their resources for learners and teachers related to this important day. Click on their logo to visit their website:
Created by teacherscholars Amy Kass and Leon Kass, the www.whatsoproudly wehail.org literaturebased e-curriculum is a rich source of materials compiled to aid in the classroom instruction of American history, civics, social studies and language arts. This collection of classic American stories, speeches and songs seeks to educate both hearts and minds about American ideals, American identity and national character, and the virtues and aspirations of our civic life.
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Visit the Tech News Tuesday feedback page Current and Past Editions How to use TNT Issuu
Modesto City Schools | Office of Instructional Technology www.mcs4kids.com/mcsit
TECH NEWS TUESDAY
| Vol. 2, Issue 3 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
2 ISTE NETS-S
ISTE NETS S for Students
(weekly words of weekly wisdom)
Student Tech Mentors of the Week
MAKE
by You
Your School will be listed here Your Job Title will go here
SOLVE
Looking for outstanding student stories for our Student Tech Mentors of the Week section of the TNT eNewsletter. Please nominate a student from your class that you feel excels at technology and is helping out in the classroom, assisting fellow students, or using technology in a creative way. Please use the Tech News Tuesday online feedback form to nominate your Student Tech Mentor of the Week! > click here See examples of last year’s stories in our TNT eNewsletter archive > click here
Edmodo is a socia learning platform for teachers, students, and parents. It has the look of Facebook but with educational applications. On Edmodo, teachers are at the center of a powerful network that connects them to students, administrators, and parents. In Edmodo’s secure environment, teachers and students can collaborate, share content, and use educational apps to augment inclassroom learning. These powerful capabilities enable teachers to personalize learning for every student. Edmodo is free.
USE
Click Here to Nominate a Student
FIND
Modesto City Schools has a districtwide deployment of Edmodo. TO LEARN MORE VISIT:
We would enjoy hearing about technology being used in the classroom and any support we can provide. Looking for Teachers to share classroom lessons using technology to feature in upcoming issues of TNT eNewsletter. Please complete this form to share or ask for assistance using technology for a classroom project. > click here
You and your students wanted! September 11th Personal Stories of Online Resource Transformation of the Week www.tributewtc.org/programs/toolkit.html September 11th: Personal Stories of Transformation, provides an introduction to understanding the impact of 9/11 for middle school and high school students. The toolkit, available for free online, features eight interactive video stories of people who were deeply affected by the attacks of 9/11 and who responded with humanitarian initiatives that strengthen their local and global communities. In addition to the multimedia stories, the toolkit includes thought-provoking questions for classroom discussion, vocabulary definitions, and bibliographies. The toolkit lessons give students an opportunity to utilize primary source materials in print and in media and to learn how to conduct oral histories. The toolkit materials address national standards for historical thinking, US and world history, civics and government, and English/language arts. Modesto City Schools | Office of Instructional Technology www.mcs4kids.com/mcsit
TECH NEWS TUESDAY
| Vol. 2, Issue 3 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
Mobile App of the Week
News-O-Matic, Daily Reading for Kids Students can learn about what’s happening in the world in an www.spinlight.com/apps/operationmath.html engaging way from a high-quality news source. With only five news stories posted each day, students can focus on each one in an in-depth way. Includes activities and games to boost student engagement. News-O-Matic is aligned to the CCSS at 3rd and 4th grade levels for English Language Arts and Mathematics. All articles are 100% ad-free and reviewed by an on-staff child psychologist to ensure emotionally safe content.
iPad Free Ages 7-10 Subjects: Language, Reading, Social Studies
Click here for Press4Kids Website makers of News-O-Matic Teachers will have access to a daily Teacher Guide and for schools without tablet technology, News-O-Matic will be available as a PDF format delivered via email.
Click here for iPad App
Click here for Daily School Edition and Teachers Guide
Race 2 Achieve
Focus On Click here to sign-up to reserve a spot on the waiting list
One of the biggest questions math educators face when teaching higher-level high school content is, “How do I make this relevant? How do I make this matter to students?” Race 2 Achieve is a project-based math curriculum that is not only aligned to Common Core standards, but also focused on the interests of students. The curriculum prepares students for assessment while giving their learning both context and meaning. Through NASCAR engineering and Hendrick Motorsports, students not only learn key concepts; they also learn how to apply those concepts in a real-world scenario through the development of their own model racecars. Race 2 Achieve is limited to 11th and 12th grade math classes. Free kit includes: student notebooks, teacher lesson plan, car kits, DVD with lessons, and design process poster.
http://race2achieve.org Modesto City Schools | Office of Instructional Technology www.mcs4kids.com/mcsit
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TECH NEWS TUESDAY
| Vol. 2, Issue 3 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
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$$$$$$ Funding click on the images to visit their websites featured on Matthew’s Google + page
Modesto City Schools | Office of Instructional Technology www.mcs4kids.com/mcsit