The VIBE Teacher Edition December 2011

Shore Regional High School

December 2011 William J.Valenti Educational Media Specialist Director of Information Resources

Teacher Edition

THE VIBE

The Information Geek

Valenti’s Information Bulletin Essentials

SNAG LEARNING FREE VIDEO SITE

http://learning.snagfilms.com From the Site: “SnagLearning is dedicated to presenting high-quality documentary films as educational tools to ignite meaningful discussion within the learning community.”

There is a search portal for films suitable for high school students. Once you are on the site a brief description of each film is given, along with a subject category. This website is a treasure trove of free video material.

Nine-tenths of education is encouragement

by Anatole France

DECEMBER READER OF THE MONTH– Alison Cook Alison says, “ I like to read simply because it allows me to "get away" for a little bit from reality. Reading allows me to put aside the trials and tribulations of daily life and also helps put me to sleep as my mind is focused on the storyline instead of what I need to do the next day.”

Alison Cook..reading "A Storm of Swords" by George R.R. Martin. This is the third book in the series, the first book being adapted for the recent hit HBO series "A Game of Thrones". I jokingly call it Harry Potter for the adult mindset- great characters, great plots/twists and an interesting method of writing a cohesive series. “

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THE VIBE

New York Times Learning Network http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com Welcome to The Learning Network Blog!

The Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials based on New York Times content. Teachers can use or adapt lessons across subject areas and adapt lessons across subject areas and levels. Students can respond to opinion questions, take news quizzes, learn the word of the day, try test yourself questions, complete fill-ins or read poetry pairings.

This is truly a treasure trove of material that can be used or adapted to fit any subject area.

“The control center of your life is your attitude” ~author unknown

“ Life is like a ten speed bicycle, most of us have gears we never use.” ~ Charles Schulz

WEBSITES EMAILED BY WILLIAM J. VALENTI DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION RESOURCES EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

NOVEMBER 2011

Administration

Top 5 Apps for Administrators Guest Post by David Andrade http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/ ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Art/Music Golden Age of Music Video http://goldenageofmusicvideo.com/ Music video historian Stephen Pitalo posts videos, along with commentary and interview excerpts, from the days when MTV was non-stop music videos rather than reality TV and Beavis and Butthead (which for some reason is being brought back). ~ From Mary Laine Artsonia - An Art Museum for Kids and Store for their Parents http://www.artsonia.com/teachers/lessonplans/

Artsonia is a site designed for students to share their art work in public galleries. Students and teachers can indicate their school's name when they upload their artwork.

Parents and other family members can search Artsonia by

school name to find their children's artwork. Then, if they're so inclined, parents can purchase things like coffee mugs, aprons, tee-shirts, and other trinkets with their child's artwork on it. 15% of purchases go to the child's school. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Videos - The Year that Changed Jazz http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jf64y

The documentary examines four musicians and the landmark albums they released in 1959. Those featured musicians and albums are Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, Dave Brubeck: Time Out, Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um, and Ornette Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

11 Operas in 10 Minutes http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/08/11‐operas‐in‐10‐minutes.html

Operas don't appeal to the typical high school student.

Nonetheless, teachers of music theory and music appreciation classes do try to expose their students to the opera. The video below covers the story lines of eleven classic operas. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Tools for Creating Online Music Loop Labs- http://www.looplabs.com Music Shake- http://eng.musicshake.com/create/ Aviary Roc- http://aviary.com/tools/music-creator Beatlab http://www.beatlab.com UJAM- http://www.ujam.com/

Exploring Consumerism Where Ads and Art Intersect http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lessonplans/exploring-consumerism-where-intersect-1114.html Students add up the effect of images and persuasive language to analyze the art and words ~ From Thinkfinity

Art Through Time: A Global View http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/art-through-time-a-global-view.html A course for high school, college, and adult learners, including 13 half-hour video programs, a Web site with art images, accompanying text, and course guide.

The Google Art Project http://www.googleartproject.com/ puts some of the most important art museums, and their collections, online with amazing features, including being able to create your own art collection ~ From Larry Ferlazzo Lyrics Gaps http://www.lyricsgaps.com/ lets you choose a song and the language you want it sung in and then gives you the option of seeing/hearing it in different modes — karaoke, beginner, intermediate, expert ~ From Larry Ferlazzo Instalyrics http://instalyrics.com/ is a new site that shows you the lyrics to any song very, very quickly, along with a music video that goes along with it. ~ From Larry Ferlazzo Lesson Plans from the Museum of Modern Art http://www.moma.org/learn/teachers/online

The MOMA lesson plans collection can be searched by theme, artist, medium, or subject. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Child Study Team Apps for Autism - A 60 Minutes Story http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/10/apps‐for‐autism‐60‐minutes‐ story.html

Lesley Stahl reported on how iPads are being used by teach-

ers, parents, and therapists to assist students who have Autism. The story is worth thirteen minutes of your time. If you're really interested in learning about iOS apps for students with special needs I recommend reading iPodsibilities and Teaching Learners With Multiple Special Needs. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

English Ayn Rand Talks Atheism with Phil Donahue http://www.openculture.com/2010/11/ ayn_rand_talks_atheism_with_phil_donahue_.html

Old footage (circa 1979) that features Rand coming out “against God,” calling faith an abdication of individual responsibility (so important to her philosophy), an insult to the human intellect, and a sign of psychological weakness. If she were alive today, Rand would easily give the “new atheists” (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, etc.) a very good run for their money. It’s not exactly the stuff that traditionally makes you a conservative saint, but stranger things have happened. Maybe. ~ From Open Culture

35 Poets Read Their Work http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/35-poets-read-their-work.html Each entry includes a short introduction to spark student interest, questions for discussion, teaching tips, and links to standards Toasted Cheese - A Daily Writing Prompts Calendar http://www.toasted-cheese.com/webcal/webcal.cgi

is a daily writing prompt site that publishes prompts on a monthly calendar. The whole month is laid out for you with a different prompt each day. Don't see anything you like on the current calendar? That's okay, click through the previous months to find old prompts. Periodically, Toasted Cheese holds writing contests which you can learn

Toasted Cheese

about by clicking on the links on the calendar. The writing contests are based on one or more of the prompts from the calendar. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Download George Orwell’s Animal Farm for Free

http://www.openculture.com/2010/04/ revisiting_george_orwell_animal_farm_and_1984_free.html ~ From Open Culture Invitation to World Literature - Web Site - David Damrosch, Harvard Wordorigins.org http://www.wordorigins.org/ A site devoted to the origins of words and phrases, and discovering the truth about popular mythologies about them. Dave Wilton says "While it can be disappointing when a neat little tale turns out to be untrue, almost invariably the true origin is just as interesting." You can browse through the master list of words covered here, follow the blog, and check out the links to additional resources on word origins. ~ From Mary Laine

What Should Teachers Be Doing During Student “Free Voluntary Reading” Time? http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2011/07/14/what-should-teachers-be-doing-during -student-free-voluntary-reading-time/ If you do this in your classroom I think that you will find this to be very helpful. ~ From Larry Ferlazzo

Faculty Bloomin' Android - Android Apps to Match Bloom's Revised Taxonomy http://kathyschrock.net/androidblooms/ Bloomin' Android links

to free apps for each level and task type of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. To navigate the display just click on a level and task type to find a free app that students can use to accomplish a task

Whatfolio - Publish Your Digital Portfolio http://www.whatfolio.com/ Whatfolio is a free service for creating online displays of your

digital works. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Teaching Channel http://www.teachingchannel.org/ Teaching Channel is a great site to see teachers ʺin actionʺ. This is a great way to learn effective teaching techniques and strategies while being in‐ spiring as well. A teacher can join their online community to share and col‐ laborate w/ other educators and share lesson plans as well.

Typing Adventure - A Fun Little Typing Game http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/keyboarding_games/jumping.swf Typing Adventure is a nice little game that young students can use to practice their typing skills. To play the game students just have to visit the game site, read the directions, and press start. The game scenario presented to students is a character leaping from stepping stone to stepping stone. To move along the path students have to type the letters of the stones they want to jump to. Students earn points based on speed and accuracy. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Acme Labelmaker http://www.acme.com/labelmaker/ The Museum of Online Museums http://www.coudal.com/moom/ 60 Student-Centered Teaching Strategies http://nea.org/tools/48913.htm All the strategies promote students’ literacy and critical thinking skills within a respectful classroom climate.

Listen for Free http://nea.org/tools/48171.htm Get audiobooks that can be played on your computer (and in some cases, on your MP3 player or cellphone).

Teaching Channel: Videos That Inspire Teaching http://nea.org/tools/46329.htm This site offers a growing library of short videos to inspire teaching.

Using Pictures for Current Events Lessons

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15791213

Everyday the BBC runs a feature called the Day in Pictures that displays a small collection of photographs from around the world. The Day in Pictures collections are part of a much larger resource from the BBC simply called In Pictures. The In Pictures resource provides hundreds of images in a variety collections and slide shows about current events throughout the world ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Update Your Browser and Browse Happy http://whatbrowser.org/

There is another simple way to determine what browser you're using; visit WhatBrowser.org. What Browser is a Google site that detects what browser you're using and displays that information right on the page in front of you. A simple way to check if your browser is up to date is to visit Browse Happy. Browse Happy lists the five most commonly used browsers, the latest version of each, and links you to the download for the latest version. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Guidance Over a 100 Career Videos http://www.nextvista.org/collection/light‐bulbs/careers/ Webinars & Other Resources To Inspire the Next Generation of Engineers http://nea.org/tools/46944.htm Design Squad Nation offers free webinars and other resources to inspire the next generation of engineers.

“The Best Websites For Students Exploring Jobs and Careers”: Kids Work http://www.knowitall.org/kidswork/index.html

from South Carolina Public Television. It has a number of engaging and accessible activities about careers in health, television, and the theater.

GCF Learn Free http://www.gcflearnfree.org/everydaylife/default.aspx?id=16 There are numerous high-quality and accessible activities on the site designed to teach life-skills. You have to register to use them, but it’s free and easy to use.

Emurse http://www.emurse.com/ This is a free and accessible online tool to create resumes. It walks you through the process of making one. They basically have a series of text-boxes to fill-in, and have instructions written in simple English. You then end-up with a professionallooking resume.

California Career Zone http://www.cacareerzone.org/flash/index.html despite its name, is useful for students everywhere) is number six on the list and has three separate sections — Assess Yourself, Explore Industry Sectors, and Reality Check. They are all well-designed and accessible.

Career Capture http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/edu/careercapture/index_en.html target girls interested in technology careers Penny’s Search http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/edu/peterpacket2/NewBuild_forweb/ penny/index.html target girls interested in technology careers.

Career Voyages http://www.careervoyages.gov/students-main.cfm closed-captioned videos about every occupation imaginable The Learning Edge. http://www.thewclc.ca/edge/ You’ll find eight issues of animated newsletters with text and audio support, and

most of it is about jobs and careers. ~ All From Larry Ferlazzo’s Blog

Librarianship FREE eBOOK: SCHOOL LIBRARIES: WHATʹS NOW, WHATʹS NEXT, WHATʹS YET TO COME http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/96705

Math Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?

FamilyID=9caca722-5235-401c-8d3f-9e242b794c3a

is a graphing calculator that plots in 2D and 3D. Of course, the calculator does many other functions such as solving inequalities, converting units of measure, and performing matrix and vector operations.

Encalc http://www.encalc.com/ is a free online scientific calculator.

Web2.0calc http://web2.0calc.com/

is a free online scientific calculator.

Speed Crunch

http://www.speedcrunch.org/en_US/index.html

is a free scientific calculator application for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems

Calculus Lifesaver: A Free Online Course from Princeton http://www.openculture.com/2011/11/ calculus_lifesaver_a_free_online_course.html

Adrian Banner, a lecturer at Princeton, has put together a lecture series (in video) that will help you master calculus, a subject that has traditionally frustrated many students.Adrian Banner, a lecturer at Princeton, has put together a lecture series (in video) that will help you master calculus, a subject that has traditionally frustrated many students. The 24 lectures (click here) were originally presented as review sessions for Princeton introductory calculus courses offered in 2006, and each session runs about two hours ~ From Open Culture Math Open Reference - A Good Supplement to Textbooks http://www.mathopenref.com/index.html Math Open Reference is a free online reference for geometry teachers and students. Math Open Reference features animated

and interactive drawings to demonstrate geometry terms and concepts. The table of contents on Math Open Reference is divided into four basic categories; plane geometry, coordinate geometry, solid geometry, and function explorer tools. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Math in the News - Will the NBA Play This Year? http://www.media4math.com/MathInTheNews.asp Media 4 Math has a nice regular feature called Math in the

News. Math in the News offers ideas for short mathematics lessons based on current news stories. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Nurse School Nurse Perspectives http://snp.homestead.com/ School Nurse http://www.schoolnurse.com/ School Nursing Reference Website http://school‐nursing.org/

Physical Education Alcohol Awareness Resources for Educators http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/alcohol-awareness-resources-for-educators.html Free publications that provide educators with information about the hazards of drinking alcohol.

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance http://www.aahperd.org American School Health Association http://www.ashaweb.org/ The professional organization for health educators.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov This site offers a broad range of current information on health and wellness and is an excellent source of quality information for students and teachers.

Using Technology in Physical Education Newsletter http://www.pesoftware.com/technews/news.html Newsletter provides physical educators and health educators with the latest information on using technology in physical education.

Distracted Driving - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration http://www.distraction.gov/ We now know that distracted drivers are as dangerous as drunk ones. This site offers statistics on distracted driving, an overview of state laws on the subject, news stories, and tools people can use in campaigns against it. ~ From Mary Laine Distracted Driving - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration http://www.distraction.gov/ We now know that distracted drivers are as dangerous as drunk ones. This site offers statistics on distracted driving, an overview of state laws on the subject, news stories, and tools people can use in campaigns against it. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Snag Learning Film of the Week - The Family Meal http://learning.snagfilms.com/film/the-family-meal

The Family Meal is a twenty minute film about obesity in America, its causes, its effects, and the disappearance of the family meal in American homes. The film focuses on how developing the habit of eating "family meals" at home can reduce the rate of obesity in American children. You can watch the film and view a discussion guide here. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Science eSkeletons - Interactive Mammal Skeleton Models http://www.eskeletons.org/

eSkeletons features interactive models of mammal skeletons. Select a model from the menu on the home page then click on any bone in the model to view it in detail. After select a bone to view you can choose from a menu of viewing angles. In many cases eSkeletons offers a short video display of the bone you've selected from the menu. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Healthline Body Maps - 3D Interactive Models http://www.healthline.com/human‐body‐maps/ Healthline Body Maps provides interactive three

dimensional models for learning about human anatomy. Body Maps has male and female models. The models have eight layer

views, from skin to skeletal, that you can select.

The Wild Classroom - Science Videos and More http://www.thewildclassroom.com/ The Wild Classroom is a website that features a

collection of podcasts and videos for science classrooms. One aspect of The Wild Classroom that impressed me was the Biomes of the World Map. The Biomes of the World map allows students to explore the map and watch an informational video about each biome. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Science Video Portal and Interactives http://video.sciencemag.org/SciOriginals

. Science Magazine's Video Portal offers dozens of videos across a variety of topics in science.

Each of the videos is connected to an article that you can read online or print for classroom distribution. The Science Interactives menu contains six interactive versions of posters they have published in recent years. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Weather: Extreme Weather 101 Teaching Resources http://nea.org/tools/49035.htm A collection of lesson plans, videos, podcasts, interactives, and supporting reading and websites for educators. ~ From Nea.org 10 Free Things Global Chemistry Experiment - Water: A Chemical Solution http://nea.org/tools/48532.htm Students can explore the chemistry of water and the role of water in society and the environment and contribute to a Global Experiment.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Stars in New Symphony of Science http://www.openculture.com/2011/11/neil_degrasse_tyson_stars_in_new_symphony_of_science.html Onward to the Edge celebrates the adventure of space exploration and features the auto-tuned voices of astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, particle physicist Brian Cox and planetary scientist Carolyn Porco. It’s a mashup of material from four sources: Tyson’s My Favorite Universe video course, Cox’s BBC series Wonders of the Solar System, a TED talk by Porco and scenes from National Geographic’s A Traveler’s Guide to the Planets.

Sixty Symbols - Video Explanations of the Symbols of Physics http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2008/08/video-demonstrations-of-periodic-table.html Sixty Symbols is a collection of videos featuring scientists at the University of Nottingham

giving short, sometimes humorous, explanations of the symbols of physics and astronomy. There are actually more than sixty videos in the collection now as more content is periodically added to the site. Click on any symbol on the Sixty Symbols homepage to watch a video.

There is also a section devoted just to the solar system.

~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Social Studies Cartoons for the Classroom http://nieonline.com/aaec/cftc.cfm#

Cartoons in the Classroom offers more than one hundred lesson plans based on editorial cartoons Library of Congress Teacher's Page

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

The primary source center also provides guides for using various types of primary sources including political cartoons, photographs, and oral histories. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

The Gettysburg Address Animated

http://www.openculture.com/2010/11/the_gettysburg_address_animated.html

To pay homage to it, designer Adam Gault and illustrator Stefanie Augustine have rendered the immortal words in beautiful black-and-white typographic animation that visually captures the essence of Lincoln’s words as they are spoken. ~ From Open Culture Gandhi - Full Length Movie Online http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRdIGzFtM24 full-length version of the 1982 film Gandhi is available on YouTube

~ From Free Technology for Teachers

World War II in Photos http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/ww2.html Originally a 20-part series posted on atlantic.com, these 900 photos, with accompanying essays, were chosen by Alan Taylor "to explore the events of the war, the people involved at the front and back home, and the effects the war had on everyday lives." ~From Mary Laine

THE HISTORY CHEF! http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com/

goal is to help parents and kids learn how to cook together, learn about history together, and hopefully help them create many great memories and meals together. Worth the visit.

Understanding 9/11: A Television News Archive http://www.archive.org/details/911/day/20010911#/

The Internet Archive has assembled more than 3,000 hours of news footage from September 11, 2001 and the six days immediately following. You can explore the footage in a timeline grid format. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Good Occupy Wall Street Lesson Plan http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/moving-the-movement-analyzing-the-future-of-occupy-wall-street/? nl=learning&emc=learninga1 is a very good lesson plan published by The New York Times Learning Network. Considering the removal of protestors from the New York City site, it could be a very timely classroom discussion. ~ From Larry Ferlazzo

US History Teacher's Blog http://ushistoryeducatorblog.blogspot.com/ A great place for lesson plans and more‌ ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Student

5 Resources for Learning SAT Vocabulary

Vocab Ahead

http://www.vocabahead.com/ Vocab Ahead is a great service

offering hundreds of videos designed to help students learn SAT and ACT vocabulary words Vocab Sushi http://www.vocabsushi.com/

is designed to help students prepare for standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, GRE, LSAT, and more. When you register for an account, Vocab Sushi will ask you which test you are preparing for. Based upon the test for which you're preparing, Vocab Sushi will give you a short (20 question) quiz to evaluate your current skills. Then based on your score, Vocab Sushi will generate a list of words for you to learn.

Vocab Sushi

EduFire http://edufire.com/games/flashcards

is a tutoring service offering live video lessons. EduFire charges for the video lessons, but they do have a good selection of flashcards that students can access for free.

EduFire

Flashcard Flash http://www.flashcardflash.com/

is a handy little search engine designed for one purpose, helping you find sets of flashcards ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Flashcard Flash

World Language Virtual Keyboards for Typing Special Characters http://typeit.org/ Type It is a free online program for typing accent

marks and other special characters that are often required for languages other than English. Type It supports twenty-one languages and currency symbols. You can insert accents and characters by selecting them from the menu provided by Type It or by using their suggested keyboard shortcuts. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Study Stream http://studystre.am/?utm_source=Technology+Tidbits+Newsletter&utm_campaign=608b9ce528‐ RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email Study Stream is a wonderful new (beta) site for learning a new language. This is done w/ an innovative use of videos, articles, blogs, etc. A user can watch videos dedicated to a specific language and then answer questions related to that video. This is a very easy site to use and a user can sign in w/ either their FB or Twitter account. ~ From Technology Tidbits

About.com: Resources for Spanish Teachers http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/about-dot-com-resources-for-spanish-teachers.html This site offers links to free resources for Spanish teachers