Resource: Smithsonian Education

Smithsonian

The link above is to the Smithsonian Education website. As we should know, the Smithsonian Institution is a network of museums and research centers. This website provides excellent resources for educators, parents and students. A quick peek at the educator sublink provides us with lesson plans and resources a mouse click away. The search feature allows you to search by standard, grade, subject or term- talk about lesson planning made easy! They have quality lesson plans in various categories- art & design, science & technology, history & culture, and language arts. The Institute also provides professional development in the form of workshops, seminars, classes & events and even online resources. The best feature about this website is the IdeaLabs for students (still under the educator tab). Students have the opportunity to explore a range of topics- in a completely interactive format. The IdeaLabs feature videos, pictures and timelines and all are primary sources! The part of the site for parents is titled Families and features some enrichment resources. The bulk of this section is focused around visiting the museum, but does feature some resource reading links which is helpful for families. The section for kids is completely aimed at the student. The main page grabs the attention with a section about "fun, fast, cool scary..." happenings at the museum. Their is also a link for the IdeaLabs on this section of the website, so technology in the classroom would allow the children to explore these! Overall, I think this is a great resource website for educators when incorporating primary sources and starter ideas for lessons! Until next time....

                                             Jennifer

Robo Clerk?

Reference Website: Robo Clerk?


In this search for reliable, kid friendly current events websites I came across the Scholastic website. This website includes current events that are kid friendly. After reviewing CNN students and Fox News, I still found the material to gritty for some elementary students. I think our students should have an understanding of current events, but hot button topics that are trending in our news (gay marriage, war, ISIS) should be left to the parents discretion of when and how to introduce those topics. I browsed this website and the first news story is the Robo Clerk link posted above. This news article talks about the use of human like Androids being used in Japan. In this hotel in Japan, human workers are replaced by robots or Androids. "Guests to Henn-na can check in to the hotel, have their luggage carried to their rooms, get room service, and have their rooms cleaned—all with the help of androids. Androids are robots that are designed to look similar to real people. The hotel’s developers hope that they will be able to run the hotel at a much lower cost by staffing it with robots along with some humans." I think students would really respond to a news article of this sort. This brings in fantasy elements (robots) and technology that is really being developed in today's world. This article could be used as a jumping piece to an ELA journal. There are multiple ways to integrate Social Studies, and current events, across the curriculum. I could allow my students to mold, draw or graphic design (online) a similar project to meet art standards. The article talks about using this type of technology as cost cutting methods; I could allow my students to estimate the cost of this technology and compare it to any potential savings. We could calculate the cost of building this technology and analyze the costs with a decrease of human staffing savings and write a reflective piece. I think the possibilities are endless and this website and use of current events are a great starting point for integrated curriculum.

Simulations- Bring History to Life!

I was very impressed with learning about the simulation teaching strategy. I found this idea very engaging and think students would learn so much with this strategy! I found the example shared in class a great way to bring taxation without representation a more concrete idea for the students! Our students can learn about the unfair taxation placed on the colonists by simulating the situation with pretend resources and everyday items. I think this idea can be expanded to include many other historical events to bring a fresh understanding to the information. I would love to do a simulation representing the democratic system. I think students could gain an understanding of how the voting process works in America and how laws are passed through simulation activities. This would be a great beginning of the year activity. I would allow the students to represent the House & Senate and I would be the President. The students could understand the checks and balance system and the journey laws have to travel before being officially approved.This would be a great strategy to implement in all other areas of content- ELA, math and science. Students could simulate the writing process in ELA. With more time and real curriculum to observe, we could think of endless possibilities for this teaching strategy. This is one strategy that gets an A in my gradebook. Until next week....  
                                                                                      

                                                                            Jennifer (Mrs. J)

Social Studies Resource Website

Kid World Citizen

The website listed above, Kid World Citizen, is a great resource for helping our students become global citizens without leaving the classroom. Many times in our classroom, we have limited opportunity for field trips, much less a world-wide field trip. I think it is essential for our students to broaden their horizons and experience what our world has to offer. Using virtual field trips is a great way to allow our students to experience world landmarks from the comfort of our classroom. This website gives great links to popular sites that offer virtual experiences. Our students can visit the Louvre and view the art, use the Eiffel Tower to experience Paris from a bird's eye view or the Google Art Project to visit many famous museums around the world. Although this is not mentioned on this webpage, the Sistine Chapel has virtual tours for a 360 degree view of this beautiful and historic building. After clicking around on the website, there are many crafts and ideas on this website that include great resources for teachers. This website breaks the website down into different continent categories and country based sub-categories. This is a great resource website for implementing geography and culture into your classroom!