Fantastic Fridays: October 22

Fantastic Fridays: October 22

1. Classroom Spotlight Project: School Newspaper

Our SOAR students have been working hard on the new IHM School Newspaper! Using the Mac computers, students create their individual stories. Since the "Newspaper" folder is shared on the network, each person can edit the same file, allowing students to collaborate. Connie C. is doing an awesome job working on this collaborative, project-based strategy.

Having a network here at IHM is a great way for students to share files. We can also use it to send internet links to each Mac computer! If you have a few links you would like to add to your students' docks (at the bottom of the screen), just send them to me. You'll be amazed at how much time it saves in trying to type in those loooooonnnngggggg web addresses.

2. Student Websites: (K-5) Planning for Thanksgiving and (6-8) Primary Sources in Social Studies

The internet is such a powerful tool for pulling together resources from the entire globe, across eons of history. I hope your students will benefit from these authentic resources:

• (K-5)Scholastic.com : The First Thanksgiving http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/letters_signup.asp . This site provides a wide variety of resources, from narrative accounts of Native American and Pilgrim life, to a LIVE WEBCAST! You must sign up in advance to participate in the webcast (I can help set up the projector, etc!), but the other resources are also extremely valuable
• (K-5): The Official Website for Plimoth Plantation: http://www.plimoth.org/ Well-designed website with realistic images and information. Also includes appropriate games.
• (6-8): American Memory from the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html . This website is the "go-to" source for primary documents and images from American History. Consider using the images for writing prompts!
• (6-8): PBS Teaching Resources http://www.pbs.org/teachers/classroom/6-8/ . Pbs is is not technically a primary resource, but it provides many online videos for free to classroom teachers. Specifically, many video resources appropriate for both science and social studies are at http://video.pbs.org/

3. Teacher Productivity Tools: Social Networking

We all know that teachers can't be "friends" with their students-- no Facebook, MySpace, or personal emails. However, what if online social networking tools could be used as a teaching, learning, and information tool? It's possible to set up social networking resources such as Facebook and Twitter to provide school information. Edline is an awesome way to begin this journey. Many schools, churches, and youth programs have set up Facebook accounts (with extremely tight security restrictions) strictly for the purpose of providing information to their members. Check out this fun new "child-centered" social networking site, which focuses on teaching safe and appropriate online skills: http://www.scuttlepad.com/ !

Please visit the blog at http://ihmtech.blogspot.com/2010/10/fantastic-fridays-october-22.html to view the fun "extra" message!

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