UPDATES are Ongoing

Many posts are added to the pages listed at the top of this blog. For example, today's post on hurricanes can also be found on the Science page. SO.......check back often and use the pages or the search box (left column) to find what you are looking for on the blog.  Thank you for your continued support!

Read More

Using Fake Tweet Builder in Your Classroom

Thank you to history teacher Ken Halla for sharing this tool on his blog.  A colleague of his set up an assignment here using Fake Tweet Builder, asking his students what Stalin and Hitler would tweet to each other if Twitter existed back then.  You don't have to be a history teacher to take advantage of this terrific tool. For example, language arts teachers could use Fake Tweet Builder when students discuss various authors. 

Read More

27 Sites with Information About Hurricanes

As I sit here on the first of two days off because of an impending hurricane named Sandy, I thought I create a post or two in case I lose power. (I'd rather lose TV, phone and Internet than power!) It seems surreal that in the New York area we are living through what people in Florida are used to: hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding etc. But the reality is that Sandy means business and the gusting winds happening right now are only a prelude of what's to come. To those of you who are in the "eye of the storm", stay safe.

A to Z Teacher Stuff- small list of lessons about hurricanes

Apps for Tracking Hurricanes- nice listing of apps available in the iTunes store; most $$, some free

BrainPop- video on hurricanes (younger kids)

Editors' Choices from Education World- best books to teach about hurricanes

FEMA Site- steps to prepare for a hurricane; kids site here.

Horrific Hurricanes

How Hurricanes Work- from How Stuff Works; includes quiz, video

How Names are Chosen- includes listing of names to 2017

Hurricane Digital Memory Bank- "Launched in 2005, the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank uses electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the stories and digital record of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita." 

Hurricane Facts and Figures- from the St. Petersburg Times; includes hurricane gallery 

Hurricane Lesson Plans and Classroom Activities- from Education World

Hurricane Tracker- from weather.com

Hurricane Tracking Activity- from Enchanted Learning

Hurricanes- page includes graphs, maps

Part 2 | Part 3

Make a Hurricane Spiral- for younger students; three hurricane spirals to cut out

Make Your Own Tracking Map- printable black and white map of the eastern United States

Miami Museum of Science Teacher Resources- a lot here in a friendly user interface

National Hurricane Center- forecasts, tools, podcasts

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity Scale- explains each level in detail

Scholastic.com : Severe Weather and Natural Disasters- site includes quiz

Severe Weather: Hurricanes

Student Hurricane Activities- choose from 10 activities, including a crossword puzzle, quiz and word find

Teacher Guide to Hurricanes and Tornadoes- from TeAchnology; 

WatchKnowLearn- 68 videos about hurricanes; covers ages 7-18 (each one labeled for age)

Weather Coloring Books for Kids- includes downloadable posters, videos, more

Weather Wiz Kids- images, diagrams, list of hurricane names

LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? Why not subscribe to this blog or follow me on TWITTER. 

Read More

What's Your Blood Type?

The Blood Typing Game is an interactive activity where students try to detect the blood type of various patients. After choosing a patient, you are asked to use a syringe and take blood which you then put into three vials. Guessing the patient's blood type is the final step. The Blood Typing Game was the 2012 Winner of the Best Game Category by Swedish Learning Awards. Students will really enjoy this game, which was recommended to me by my colleague Pat, who teaches biology.

Read More

A Trusted Online Source: Encyclopedia of Life

The Encyclopedia of Life is a terrific online resource with "information and pictures of all species known to science". Search an animal's name and several tabs are made available, including the overview, details, outside resources on that topic, classifications and names for the animal and so much more. If you are a biology teacher, this is a site you should bookmark for your students.

Read More

Refraction: A Math Game About Fractions

With support from University of Washington Center for Game Science, DARPA, Gates Foundation, NSF, Adobe, Microsoft and Intel, Refraction was created to teach fractions. According to the website, "In Refraction, the player must partition lasers in order to power spaceships containing various animals who have gotten stuck in space, as shown in the picture. These animal spaceships all require different fractions of the lasers, and the player is given several pieces that split and bend the lasers to reach the animals and satisfy these requirements".  Refraction won the Best in Show Award in the 2010 Learning Challenge, which was sponsored by Disney Research. Below is a description of the program.

 

Read More

10 Websites to Create Monsters and Creatures

With Halloween arriving next week, I thought it would be great to share some sites where students could create their own monsters and creatures. Teachers can turn the project into a creative writing experience by having the kids write stories about their monsters. You can find a huge listing of other holidays from September to June here on this blog. 

Thank you to my colleague Norma for telling me about the resources!

Alien: Assembly Required- for younger kids; part of the Arthur site

Goosebumps Monster Maker- based on the R.L. Stine series Goosebumps, students drag and drop body parts to create their own monsters.

Make a Monster- simple interface for younger kids

Me Make Monster- easy to use; share or save the monster created or print it on a tee shirt, mug, bag or baseball hat

Me Make Zombie- students upload a photo and make it into a zombie

Monster Maker- select various body parts for your monster and control the width, height, texture and background

Playnormous Monster Gallery- choose eyes, nose, ears etc. and have your monster rated on the site; gallery currently has over 5400 monsters.

Tinkatolli- create a "Tinka"

Toonix- create a "toonix" on this colorful site; many choices to create

The Troop: Monster Creator- the premise is simple: students recreate the monster they saw by clicking and scaling body parts

Read More

Have You Seen the Google Cultural Institute?

Currently showcasing 42 different exhibits online,  Google's Cultural Institute  is a treasure-trove of photos and videos which cover events over the last 100 years. The current list of exhibitions includes:

World Wonders Project
Bringing to life the wonders of the modern and ancient world  

Art Project
The world’s art at your fingertips  

Yad Vashem
Remembering the Holocaust

Dead Sea Scrolls
Digitizing the biblical manuscripts  

Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory
Presenting Nelson Mandela’s legacy online

Versailles 3D
Discover the Palace of Versailles in 3D throughout the ages  

Le Pavillon de l’Arsenal
A Liquid Galaxy digital display of Paris in 2020  

La France en relief
17th century France in Google Earth  

Here's an overview of Google's Cultural Institute:

Read More

Read Books For Free Online

We Give Books is a wonderful site which offers children the chance to read books online for free. Created by the Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation, the books are divided into the following sections: Classics, Editor's Picks, Featured and New. Every Penguin or DK book read online helps a child receive a book through one of the literacy programs supported by the Pearson Foundation.

Read More

22 Great Places If You Teach Research Skills

If you are a teacher-librarian or media specialist, you are the one responsible for making sure students have learned the proper research skills. Since all students need to how to do research, why are school districts still cutting jobs for our position? Once kids get to middle and high school, they need to know how to do certain things tied to research, including a bibliography, website evaluation, searching techniques and so much more. Below you will find sites to assist you in teaching research skills for all ages.Use the Teacher-Librarians tab at the top to find a megalist of stuff for you.

The 6 Online Research Skills Your Students Need- from Scholastic

Copyright, Fair Use and Research Skills for Elementary Students- LiveBinder

Doing Research at the Elementary Level- written by technology teacher Mary Beth Hertz

Evaluating Information Sources Worksheet- for older students

The Future of Research- written by middle school librarian Jennifer LaGarde

Google Scholar- advanced scholarly searches

Infomine- scholarly Internet searches

iResearch: Information Skills for Life- 10 modules (covers plagiarism and searching databases) each include a PDF download

The Free Library- over 20 million articles and books

K-4 Research Materials- LiveBinder

Kentucky Virtual Library's How to Do Research- excellent interactive poster designed like a game board

Research it Right- from Acadia University's Library; animated interactive

Research Skills Lesson Plans- from Lesson Planet

Research Skills Worksheets- from TeAchnology; covers various topic areas 

Research Skills Worksheets- teacher-reviewed; grades listed

Research Skills Unit- for 8th grade students

Rutgers University's R.I.O.T.- wonderful interactive modules include: Selecting a Topic, Finding Sources, Selecting Keywords, Identifying Citations, Evaluating Sources.

State Library of Victoria- research skills for grades 5-9

Teaching Research Skills to Young Students- the role of the media specialist is explained

Teaching the Ten Steps to Better Web Research from SweetSearch


Using Critical Thinking to find Trustworthy Websites-video lesson by N.Y. middle school teacher Emily Koch (Grades 6-8)

Wading Through the Web: Teaching Internet Research Strategies- Three complete 45-minute lessons for grades 6-8

LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? Why not subscribe to this blog or follow me on Twitter. 

Read More

255,800+ FREE Resources: Share My Lesson

Looking for tons of resources, including lesson plans, discussions and other learning materials? Share My Lesson is expected to be the largest online resource for teachers in the U.S. The site is divided by age group, with K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 and special populations. Sections include a resource calendar, highlights and the latest resources posted. Once you join (FREE) you can upload materials to share with other teachers.

Read More

Inspire Your Student Musicians

Usman Riaz is a 21 year old guitarist who taught himself how to play by watching his idols on YouTube. Preston Reed invented a percussive technique for the guitar and performs with Usman in this enjoyable video.

Read More

Rutgers R.I.O.T. Rocks

Rutgers University has posted RIOT (Research Information Online Tutorial) to aid students and teachers with their research. The 5-part animated tutorial is interactive. Teacher-Librarians can use this to get students started on their research papers. Thank you Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) for posting this awesome resource for students and teachers.

Read More

Award Your Students for Their Accomplishments

Class Badges is an online program which allows you award students custom made badges. Students create an account and teachers can award badges to student accounts when earned. Every kid enjoys being recognized for good work, don't they? At the moment you have to request an invite (I did it this afternoon and am waiting to hear from them...) Here's a sample of a badge I saw on their page which I would like to use with my library-media council members:

Read More

If You're New to the Blog.....

If this is your first time her, welcome to "A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet". Here are some quick info-bits about the blog:

Tabs at the top mark specific pages where information is constantly updated.

Recently updated posts include:
The 2012 Presidential Election- more resources added

eReader Books- added as a page (top) and updated


LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? Why not subscribe to this blog or follow me on Twitter.

Read More

Banned Websites Awareness Day

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 is a day where we recognize how Internet filtering is impacting our students' learning in school. I've already spoken about how we are blocked from everything in my school, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, just to mention a few. Even when YouTube created an education link which filtered out objectionable videos, our school did not back down. Does your school district have excessive filtering of sites? As a media specialist/ teacher-librarian how do you go about convincing the administration that they need to loosen that lock on the Internet? Please share below.

Read More

NJASL Video Says it All!

Here's a wonderful promotional video produced by the N.J. Association of School Librarians. (NJASL)

Read More