Search results matching tags 'uncategorized' and 'literature'

Free EDSITEment : Core Curricula, 21 Century Ed, And The Arts

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:06:33 GMT

Welcome to another of a series of summer posts dedicated to bringing you the biggest collections of national and international resources you will find anywhere. Summer is a perfect time to examine what you just might want to include in next year’s lesson plans that will engage your students. I plan to share resources that will cover all the curricular areas. Each article will give an in-depth and informative visit to one of these sites. Make sure you bookmark, copy, RSS, subscribe by email and visit my 21centuryedtech Wiki! You will want to share! If it is not summer where you are, then you can jump right in and facilitate learning with some new material tomorrow. I will announce each post on twitter at (mjgormans) so be sure to follow. – Mike

If there is such thing as a free goldmine of resources, then EDSITEment qualifies for hitting the mother lode. Looking for Art and Culture? How about Literature and Language Arts? Perhaps you need some Foreign Language! Let’s not forget Social Studies and History! Click on EDSITEment and you will enter a site that indexes nearly three hundred other websites at the current time! Every one of these websites covers at least one, if not all four, of the curriculum areas stated above. This wealth of material is provided by a partnership consisting of the National Endowment for the Humanities,Verizon Foundation, and the National Trust for the Humanities.

EDSITEment offers a treasure trove for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality material on the Internet. This site is loaded with cross-curricular information, 21st century skills, and project, problem, and inquiry based learning activities. Check out these main headings including Art and Culture, Literature and Language Arts, Foreign Language, and History and Social Studies. In each one of these categories you can search by subcategories and grade levels. Perhaps your students want to take a virtual excursion “On The Road To Santa Fe“. Possibly they want to to learn that the Alphabet Is Historic. How about an activity in Mythology involving a Podcast with Rick Riordan, author of the best-selling series Percy Jackson & the Olympians series ? You could get involved with a Picturing Americas Conference. These conferences provide opportunities to teach history, and culture through American Art. Explore these lessons from Picturing America and see how they emphasize the value of visual literacy for subjects in the core curricula.

But wait, there is so much more! Take a moment to see what the ASA said about EDSITEment’s Advanced Placement US History Lessons. Explore EDSITEment’s cooperative effort with NCTE involving The National Gallery of Writing. This collection of student interactives and contributions are short essays that are thoughtful, analytical, and well-researched based on history as seen through art. Be sure to also explore these NEH funded PBS resources for education. One example is the NEH-funded five-part television series on PBS entitled American Experience: We Shall Remain.This is a provocative multimedia project which spans four centuries and gives Native American voice to the national experience from the Mayflower to the Wounded Knee occupation of 1973. There are some great lessons based on 19th century American Literature you may wish to explore and incorporate. Not to be forgotten is this outstanding literary glossary. You will also be rewarded as you browse the engaging monthly features that are provided. The monthly calendar and calendar archive help integrate important events in history with lessons that can be found in the archive. There is also a great NEH Magazine that will fascinate you and your students, and a wonderful newsletter to keep you up-to-date in all the new resources and programs at EDSITEment. I really could go on and on… but it is time for you to discover the goldmine of free resources found in EDSITEment! Explore and be amazed as you search through the entire database by subject, subcategory, and grade level. I am sure you will create EDSITEment in your classroom.

Thus, my focus, to share with you vast resources such as EDSITEMENT this summer! Take some time to investigate and possibly implement in the school year, or tomorrow! I will continue to bring thought, reflection, and amazing web apps along with this summer series. Please share with others, visit the 21centuryedtech Wiki, follow on me twitter (mjgormans), and subscribe to this blog by RSS or email . If you have resources that you feel need to be included please leave a reply! Enjoy, relax, play, and smile…. also take a moment to transform education toward 21st Century Learning! – Mike

Music In The Classroom

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:06:53 GMT

Recently I decided to include more music into my lessons. I started this with my American Literature courses (the College in the High School and mainstream classes), and my students have reacted quote favorably. Initially, I used The Who’s “Baba O’Rily” and “My Generation” with Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland.” Not only do the lyrics match the [...]

Personalizing Literature

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:13:49 GMT

I posted a few days ago about the CRAFTS Process for prompt writing, and I ended my post by saying I use another type of essay which helps prevent plagiarism. I use the personal essay, much like the ones colleges ask students to compose for their college applications. When teaching a novel I focus [...]

Plagiarism Problems and the CRAFTS Process

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:23:59 GMT

With the popularity of the internet and the ever-increasing access to it, students are using it for less than honest reasons. Although a great many students remain honest and complete their own work, a growing number have resorted to cheating by using papers off the internet and using others’ research. According to one study on [...]

We Should Send Him Into Space

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:26:27 GMT

Maybe he’ll catch Rama. Or touch the Monolith. Or become a part of Foundation. No matter what he does next–in the next world or during the next life–Arthur C. Clarke will be missed. I remember discovering Clarke’s works just after I turned seven or eight. I had just finished my first “adult book,” Lucifer’s Hammer, after [...]

Updates

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:13:29 GMT

I thought I’d post some updates on the goings on I’ve discussed previously. When my class created bulletin boards about the 1920s for The Great Gatsby, things did not go exactly as planned. Being literal-minded students, almost everyone basically created the exact same research piece–exactly as I had written up the assignment. A couple kids [...]

Culture of Failure

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:52:32 GMT

Is it possible to create a culture of failure? My school is currently being asked to discover why the Freshman failure rate is so high. 1/3 of the Freshmen failed a class during their first semester in high school, and statistically speaking 30% of Freshmen who fail a course in their first high school year do [...]

The Fish Bowl

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:25:02 GMT

I use a lesson format I call the fish bowl. Really, it’s a modified Socratic Seminar except that every student is not required to be an active speaking participant. I have 8-9 students circle up in the middle of the room with their notebooks and texts while the rest of the students make a circle [...]

Next Up

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:33:04 GMT

I am very excited to teach The Tragedy of Julius Caesar this week. I love this play! We finished up quite a bit of historical context last week and will begin Act I on Wednesday. The opening scene is so dense introducing some of the play’s major themes while injecting humor, word play, and emotion into [...]

Discovery and Decoration

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:32:13 GMT

Eureka! I created a way to keep my bulletin boards changing frequently without increasing my workload. I know it’s not rocket science or a monumental unearthing of educational knowledge, but I got the students to do the work. I copied off a lengthy list of events, people, and items dealing with the 1920s in preparation for [...]