WBUR: Irish Archeologists Search For Their Countrymen In Lowell

Here is another archetypical story for Making Class Relevant.  Here is the introduction:


Blame it on Indiana Jones and King Tut.

When we think archeology, we think relics of the distant past, guys in pith helmets traveling to far-off lands, and unearthing objects from a millennia of dirt and sand. In reality, archeology is often more recent and closer to home. It goes wherever the mystery is.

Exactly!  Students uncovering history!  The students profiled in this story were in our classrooms only a few years ago and now they are active historians.  This story is a great resource for those studying immigration, archeology, and the relevance of history.

Here is the link to the story and original audio:


http://www.wbur.org/2010/08/20/lowell-dig

What's on your hand? - Writing Brainstorm

So in 2010, this is type of lesson plan that will land you on Fox News or Drudge Report as more of an indoctrinator than an educator. However, I was struck by this image embedded in an article I had heard profiled on Fresh Air during an interview with it's author, Todd Purdum.

I was thinking that as a brainstorm for a personal essay, something we do early in the year as our first major writing piece, you could show the image, which is not biased at all but simply a list of the things on Obama's plate (or hand in this case) and ask the students to draw what is on their hands. Based on the sketch they do, they will be developing a list of writing areas to access later in the year and perhaps a nice artistic rendering of what is going on in their lives.

I think I am going to do it as one of my first journal writes.

The illustration is by Barry Blitt and appears in the September issue of Vanity Fair.

Digital History: A Incredible Source for Teachers

I have been using content from Digital History for the past four or five years.  The site is full of primary source materials.  Every time I visit the site, I find something new that can be used in my classroom.

This morning I found this transcription of an Eighth Grade test from 1895 (I think I may give this as a joke/reality check early in the year):

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/quizzes/8thgrade_test.cfm
 

Among my favorite resources contained on the site is this handout called "Toward Revolution".  Students find the information clear and helpful - every year it leads to incredible discussions and a natural path of inquiry to find out more.


http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us6.cfm

While you should browse the site on your own, one last stop I will point out are the every-increasing collection of eXplorations.  These are self-contained, educator developed lessons about American history ranging from Columbus through Vietnam War:


http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/

Enjoy! Let me know what you end up using in the comments below!

xtranormal: Text to Movie (Easy to use and completely awesome!)

This is a fantastic site that, with teacher supervision and specific directives, could yield amazingly entertaining and informative projects and lessons.

Basically, you are able to type dialogue into an series of easy to understand and use text boxes and "shoot" a movie scene. You can change the camera angles, languages, accents, and backgrounds. The site is free but it costs money to unlock extra characters and sets.  There are some Colonial America characters I might put some money into later in the year.

Here is a sample movie I made in about three minutes.

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6960597/

You will need an account to make your own movies.  If I allow students to use the site, I will probably make a few class accounts for groups work.  Obviously, like nearly all web based content you will need to be careful about monitoring their navigation of the site.

*Come to think of it, every year our students make skits for a colonial fair.  This might be a good tool for them to use in order to get a sense of how their dialogue is working.  We'll see.

For now, enjoy... and in the words of Brian Regan, "Take Luck!"

NPR: Unearthed Ship In NYC Offers Clues Of Colonial Life

I will probably use this story as part of one of my first lessons this year.  This story exemplifies the premise of this blog  - it puts history into the news, reveals the work that historians and their students are doing, and therefore brings life 300 years ago directly into the classroom.

With stories like this, history simply stops being static, fixed, and seemingly irrelevant.
  

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129175643&sc=fb&cc=fp

From Newsweek: Lost in Electronica

Great read from Newsweek posted below. 

Do we fight it or join it?  How can we combat this reality in the classroom?  As teachers, we are always fighting against the powers of boredom. 

Reflection, discussion, writing, and high standards are probably a good start...

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/14/will-boredom-and-the-costs-of-constant-connection.html

NYT: Best Summer Reading Book is Any Book!

Interesting article about the benefits to students of reading anything at all during the summer.  As we have all seen, those two months, if spent doing nothing academic, can be brutal on our students' development and preparedness to return to the classroom.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/summer-must-read-for-kids-any-book/?ref=education

Great story on the biology behind teenage drama....

This was a fantastic story from NPR this morning.  The take-away for me was how Dr. Kastner suggested parents write about their experiences, regrets, and feelings about lapses in judgement.



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129150658

Free Rice! Quiz for UN World Food Programme

Correct answers on this quiz translate to donations to UN World Food Programme:

http://freerice.com/index.php

The words are really challenging, especially for lower and middle school students, but it could get them into dictionaries and helping a cause at the same time.

I saw that there are different subjects (art, grammar, languages):


http://freerice.com/subjects.php?t=257476122332

Thanks to Oprah Mag (and my wife) for the tip!

Walden by Haiku

"Living on Earth" had an amazing story about Penn State-Altoona English and environmental studies professor, Ian Marshall's new book that reinterprets Walden in haiku form.  It was a great conversation and sounds like a super imaginative book.  The poems were really powerful.

This could lead a lesson/project where students reinterpret their favorite books or readings from the year.

Transcript and mp3 here:


http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=10-P13-00033&segmentID=7