The mayor of Gilbert took time out of his schedule to answer letters that students wrote to him as part of Mr. Donoghue’s Social Studies class. It’s very relevant, and there was quite a bit of rigor, too. Students thought critically about real solutions and analyzed the situation from multiple viewpoints. What a great lesson.
Archive for the ‘Assignments’ category
A visit from Mayor John Lewis
December 12th, 2011Interactive Periodic Table of Elements
November 3rd, 2011Today we’re researching the properties of elements and their uses. I like this project because you have to apply what you know about the element by creating a superhero that uses those qualities.
Here are the sites:
WebElements
Dynamic Periodic Table
ChemicalElements.com
It’s Elemental
FlashNotes – A game to speed up note recognition
October 19th, 2011If you’re looking to practice note identification, a great resource for that is FlashNotes. It’s sorted by clef and skill level.
Treble – Beginner
Treble – Advanced
Bass – Beginner
Bass – Advanced
I especially like the frantic music in the background and the countdown timer. Nice find, Mr. Durham.
Alternatives to YouTube
August 10th, 2011In our school, and many others, I’m guessing, YouTube is blocked. This has some pros and cons. Pro? There is some nasty stuff on YouTube. Con? Teachers can’t show clips that supplement their instruction.
That being said, here are some sites that you might be able to find clips to use:
Khan Academy – Even though YouTube’s blocked, Khan Academy videos are still viewable. These are amazing videos that demonstrate in simple language pretty complex math and science concepts.
5min.com – http://www.5min.com/Category/Knowledge has 5-minute videos (thus the name) that explain concepts in a quick but thorough manner. I easily found a video about the Homestead Act and then discovered a video from the Khan Academy about why (not just how) borrowing works in subtraction problems.
MovieWeb – Do you want to show 30 seconds worth of a film instead of the whole thing? Try http://www.movieweb.com/.
and then you have the classics TeacherTube and SchoolTube if you want to share videos (and find ones shared by other educators…I prefer SchoolTube over TeacherTube because it loads faster).
Hopefully that helps!
How likely is it for a spirit bear to be born?
August 4th, 2011
Picture from National Geographic
At our junior high, some of the teachers read the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen with their students. In it, one of the major forces is a giant white bear.
So, how likely is it for a spirit bear to be born?
National Geographic has a great article about the Kermodism genetics that causes the white fur. The really cool part is the Punnett square visualizing how the recessive trait is passed on.
This is an excellent opportunity for science and English teachers to team up for a cross-curricular lesson.
Myth Fakebook
May 17th, 2011Ms. Harvey has done a great update of her Mythology Fakebook in Excel.
You can download it here.
Physics rollercoasters
February 18th, 2011
Ms. Foley and Ms. Kulkarni have their students demonstrate Newtonian physics through building rollercoasters. Not only must the coaster work with a dropped marble, it must be cost efficient. Each piece, including the tape, has a fictional dollar value that they must defend to a board of investors. This is another great example of our staff challenging students in rigor and relevance.
Verb Volley and the History of Oregon Trail
January 21st, 2011I was reading an article about the history of the Oregon Trail video game and learned that it was the result of two Math teachers and a History teacher being roommates. All three were in their first years of teaching and wanted a way to grab students’ attentions when learning about western expansion in the United States.
They programmed the whole thing in two weeks. That’s what reminded me of Verb Volley, a game I created one Fall Break to help my students review parts of speech.
Here’s my game:
The Concord Review
January 10th, 2011Normally when you see a link for ESSAYS ON THE INTERNET, it’s a money-making scheme to sell desperate students poorly written essays.
The Concord Review, though, publishes the top research papers from around the world as a showcase for colleges/future employers to look at. If you want to submit your essay, here are the guidelines. I will say this, though: there is a fee associated with submissions and the essays all deal with history.
I think the site is great to show off examples of well-written student work and definitely being published here would make for a nice addition to your college application.
Reading in pairs
January 4th, 2011
Part of what I enjoy about reading great books are the discussions that I have with other readers.
Ms. Hofmann is doing a pretty cool experiment with AR reading. She paired up students based on an interest survey and I pulled all of my books that I have two copies of. Tomorrow I’ll booktalk a few and we’ll let students choose from there. The goal is to get good books into the hands of students and to have a little bit more interactivity with their reading.
The other fun bit is that for the library to have two copies of the book, it has to be a good book. I’m excited to see how it turns out. If you look at the above photo, that’s just a small sampling of the awesomeness.
