LOC and National Archives

In the same vein as the previous post.... another great govt. website, The Library of Congress.  A few years ago I took a trip to D.C. and got a tour of the Library of Congress and the National Archives.  It was a fascinating tour of the history of the buildings and agencies, but the best part for me was the educational outreach  areas.  The library has a program that emphasizes using primary resources in education.  This and the National Archives are the depository of most of our nation's important history-making documents, most of which are available in digital format.  For example, you have access to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, letters, and pictures that can make a lesson come alive for your students. These two sites are worth taking a look at.

  

FREE

     We all love free stuff and there is a government site that provides some great open resources for teachers to use.  In its inimitable way, the govt has created an anachronism; F.R.E.E.-- Federal Resources for Educational Excellence.  There are links to many federal agencies that have provided lesson plans and primary resources for educational purposes.  For example, under the topic of American Revolution, there are links to National Park Service sites (national historic parks), The Smithsonian, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Museum of American History, Dept. of State, National Archives, Library of Congress, and the list goes on.  You could find those things on your own, but it's nice to have a database to tap into that organizes lessons by topic.   Check it out, I think you'll find some really useful resources.

Happy Valentine's Day

Came across a cute little site to add to your Valentine's flipcharts.  Its called Candy hearts and you can personalize an image of a candy heart and add the image quite easily to your flip page.

Art Project powered by Google

Google has collaborated with some of the best known art museums around the world to bring their gallery to you.  Using street view technology, you can travel through the museums of your choosing looking at thousands of works of art.  The zoom feature is spectacular and the high resolution detail provided is really something. 

You can see brush strokes and layering quite well in this zoomed image of Van Gogh's Farmhouse in a Wheat Field.  It's hard to tell from this little image, so check out the site yourself.  Art Project, powered by Google.

Animoto

Do your students do reports?  Do you have them present their work by reading their report?  Where do you hang all those poster boards? What other projects do you have your students complete?  Try using the Web2.0 tool of Animoto.  It is an easy video creator for you and your students.  There is an educational version available for free.


Click on the link above to explore the site.  I think you will find it fun and engaging.  Let your students create in a new way for your classroom, but a way that I'll bet many of them do at home already.  Let them be creative, you steer the content and objectives.

Math sites

In perusing the Promethean Planet, I found a blog dedicated to teaching math.  It is called Mathematics Teacher's Lounge.  On the blog I found a number of links to other sites that would be helpful for teaching math. One is from  the public schools of North Carolina site.  It is a list of leveled pdf files that can challenge your students to use critical thinking and problem solving skills. It can be found at Math Stars Newsletter.  
Math 5 Alive is a site with explanatory videos and demonstrations, activity sheets, assessments, and parent and teacher notes on a myriad of math topics. Reminds me a bit of Brain Pop.
Scholastic has become a great resource for interactive lessons.  On Scholastic's Study Jams you can find an intro video, quiz, and vocab on fractions.  Take a look around, there are lots more great lessons.
Add Em Up is a fun demo game found on the Math is Fun site.
Be sure to check out the forums, blog, and teacher features on the Planet for lots of great ideas.

JFK Library

     The JFK Library and Museum unveiled their new digital collection last week, timed with the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's inauguration.  The museum is in Boston, but you can now access many of the primary sources from the Kennedy archives digitally from the website.  There are print and audio versions of his speeches, images and artifacts from JFK's term in office.  Downloads are available of many of the same items that are displayed in the brick and mortar museum.  They invite you to download and use these archives in your classroom.  They even ask that you share with them how you are using the items. Take a picture of your class in action and send it in.
     It's a very exciting site with virtual tours and interactive displays like the White House diary during JFK's term. This really is an amazing undertaking, to have access to so many primary sources from such an important time in our country's history.  I'm very impressed and think you will be too.  Take a look.  John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum