Marsha
Rogers
2400 Interlachen Road #110A
Spring Park, MN 55384
952-471-1127
msrogers@mchsi.com
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March, 2004
March 9
I had a bit of extra time this week, so I thought I would get out a newsletter for this week. Vacations are good. I'm glad to be back rested.
Flag of Freedom Writing Contest (in 100 words)
For grades 3-6. A writing contest on what the flag means to students. The winner's family of four will win a round trip visit to the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The deadline for entry is April 30. Students must be in grades 3-6 during the 2003-4 school year.
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/contests/
I Want to Live in Aquarius....(in 1,000 words or less)
This is a writing contest for grades 8-12. Minimum age is 13 by June 1, 2004. The winner, teacher, and parents will visit Key Largo, scuba dive to the underwater living space, and spend 60 minutes touring it. Deadline for entries is April 9, 2004.
http://www.uncw.edu/aquarius/education/contest/2004/2004_Aquarius_Contest_Flier.pdf
The entire Aquarius web site is worth exploring. There are lesson plans, information about coral reefs, careers in marine biology and oceanography available at the site.
http://www.uncw.edu/aquarius/
Make Your Own Paper.
There are step-by-step directions for making your own paper at this location. It's a good, somewhat messy, project for upper elementary through high school. Also check out the rest of the site on paper for Origami. It even gives you directions on how to fold an airplane that will really fly.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/paper/handmade.html
Ancient History
The site has some really nice games, information, and time lines. Great for a middle school through high school class.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/
March 21
April is Poetry Month. Poets.org has a map at their site that links to poets, living and dead, in each state. Check out the map. You might even find a living poet in your neighborhood who is willing to work with your students...free.
http://www.poets.org/map/
Need a good online dictionary and thesaurus? Merriam-Webster OnLine remains my favorite after many years.
http://www.m-w.com/
At Merriam-Webster's Word Central for Kids, click on the Music Room. There are MadLibs kinds of poems your students can write online. I still find these fun.
http://www.wordcentral.com/
Family Times has a great article for parents of pre-teens. As many middle schools meet with parents of students who will enter middle school next fall, this is a great article to share with them. The suggestions are all things we know about living with pre-teens, but , from time to time we need to be reminded of them.
http://familytimesinc.com/Family_0204/ft_preTeen_0204.htm
Vacation time. Many students will be taking vacations this summer with parents. An activity that combines geography, economics, language skills and mathematics is below.
Plan a vacation for your family. Decide where you will go, how you will get there, and how much money you will have to spend. Students need to plan the route, costs for travel (air, gasoline, car rentals, train, hotels, etc.) housing costs. Even if the trip is to Grandma's for a couple of weeks, they need to know the trip is not "free." They need to present a map of their travels, a budget, and a narrative of where they are going and what they will do.
March 27
I would like to extend a special welcome to the new members of this list. I will be sending you links to explore between Labor Day and Memorial Day. If you have any questions or needs, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Quizzes for Every Discipline
Encarta has a series of quizzes for every occasion you might want to consider.
http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/index.shtml
FunTrivia.com has quizzes in many area. You can find any quiz on any topic you can think of. This is great for those times when your students have a few minutes at the end of the period.
http://www.funtrivia.com/
AskEric has changed name and location. For thousands of lesson plans in all area and grade levels rebook the site. This is a "must have" for any teacher using the Internet.
http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/index.shtml
How ready is your school district to make data driven decisions? There are 10 questions on this page to assess readiness. Pass this on to administrators, tech professionals, anyone in a position to made technology decisions for your school.
http://3d2know.cosn.org/assessment/survey.cfm
Study 19th Century Literature through the books and periodicals of the period. It is a part of the Making America Project by the Library of Congress to preserve deteriorating manuscripts for study by a broad spectrum of people. It is a great source for history, sociology, literature and culture of the period.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/ncphome.html
50 Problem Solving Strategies
My students always wanted me to provide the answer to problems. It is more difficult and adds to teen angst to make them solve the problems themselves. This page provides some strategies in helping students work through a problem.
http://www.une.edu.au/psychology/staff/malouff/problem.htm
Even younger students can learn to solve problems. The following site is designed especially for the younger student.
http://www.headroom.net.au/cubby/framejamming_prob.html?prob_cubby.html~prob_cubby
As you reach the mid-point in the year, you are probably struggling with how to motivate some students. The following article is something we all know but sometimes need to remember.
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/motivate.html
For other educational links, please
visit my column at Backwash
The
Oldest Cyber-Geek I Know