POST #3: Share a resource

If you have not done so already, take some time to navigate the different databases from Iowa AEA Online.  For this forum post, you will need to locate a resource that you found that you will use with students in your class.

In your post (200-400 words), you need to share the resource.  To do so, you either need the direct link to the resource (the URL) that you paste within your post, or you will need to give a description of how you go to the resource (e.g. I used "such-and-such" as my keyword and I selected the first picture of...).

Then, introduce to us the resource that you have chosen.  Explain who the target audience is, how you will incorporate it into your class, and what the overall student outcome/objective is that this resource helps deliver.

Though it is not required, feel free for reply to other individuals if you found a post that you particularly liked.

I went to AEA online and clicked on the educator tab. Then I selected learn360 and went through the login process. I selected science and math and checked the box about global warming. I was then taken to this URL http://www.fofweb.com/trial/Complete.aspx?promoCode=D014&products=136

I watched the video about global warming and was hoping to use the charts and graphs in my geometry class in some way. I haven't got that all figured out just yet.

As I teach dual enrollment college composition, I know that one of the main sources I will use with students in writing papers is EBSCOhost. Students will need to learn to navigate this source both in high school and college. In fact, if students go on to graduate school, they will still be using EBSCOhost!
One of the big things that students will need to learn is how to operate this search engine using the terms of and, not etc to expand or limit their searches. I'm afraid that sometimes students are thrown on to EBSCOhost without understanding the parameters of the searches they conduct. I plan to go through carefully the different implications of searches when using different limiters. I want students to know that if they put in the search words "marijuana" and "legalization" for topics they will get 1000's of hits. If they limit it by using "marijuana" and not "legalization," they will receive fewer hits. I also want them to understand some of the advance tools. One of these is the date in which the material was published. Through examples, I want students to see that they can limit their search to the last five years or a five year historical period. Additionally, I want to show them the advantages of looking for articles that are found in complete format online vs. ordering it from a college. Learning how to do advanced searches in EBSCOhost will help students in practical ways as they go on to college.
Using EBSCOhost will also give me an opportunity to discuss what are credible and not credible sources. I will do this in conjunction with having students conduct a google search on the same topic. Hopefully, students will grasp the difference between the sources google presents and the more credible ones found on EBSCOhost. My hope is that students will reach for EBSCOhost before google search when writing academic papers. I'll also point out that Wikipedia does not show up on an EBSCOhost search!!!

I would go to AEA online and select Culture Grams and do a unit on the United States.  When watching the tutorials of these on the course I really found it interesting and how easy and fast it was to do so much on one website.  I also like that while you are researching you feel like you are there in that country or state and you get to experience their daily life and culture, their history, the customs of the land, and their lifestyles.  Also that it is a leading reference for concise, reliable and up-to-date cultural information on countries by people who acturally live there.  How much more beneficial to get the information of a country from a person who lives there and knows the country well then a person just visiting to see what the country is like.  With this website I would have my 3rd graders or 4th graders each pick 5 states that they would like to know more about.  Then I would have them find different facts about each state and compare and contrast different information that they found on population, life expectancy, ect. Make a map of the different resources in that state, flower, flag.  There is just so much information that this site presents to teachers and students.  We might also take some of the recipes from the state that the students pick and try them!!

Two of the resources I will use in tandem for my 6th grade Geography class are the CultureGrams site http://online.culturegrams.com/index.php and TrueFlix http://auth.grolier.com/login/tfx/login.php?bffs=N
to supplement our class text.

We study Africa, Europe and Asia, so I could start with the TrueFlix videos, books and activities as an overview and introduction of each continent. They are written for up to a 6th grade level so this should meet the introductory level well.  I could then use the more in-depth information in CultureGrams for my students to use for individual or group research and essays or projects.

I hope that these resources will help provide students with a balanced account of cultural authenticity, but I am not certain they do.  As I perused them, I noticed that they devote very little space to the "modern" urban settings and seem to address more rural and "folksy" types of cultural aspects. I will be attending the DE's Best Practices in Social Studies conference at the end of the month and will be attending a session that is meant to address cultural sensitivity and authenticity. I hope to ask the speaker from CultureAll, what she thinks of these resources.

Iam a substitute teacher and do not have a username or password since I go to many schools, not just one.
I went to Iowa AEA Online and tried to get on the different sites and couldn't because I don't have a username or password. I did try to use mine from this professional development online site but that didn't work. If I were able to get on, and if I had a classroom, would be sure and have the students know how to navigate the sites. Those I would go to first are Learning 360, Britannica School, Cultural Grams, Teaching Books, and Book FLIX. Is there any way that those of us who are not with one school could somehow use this great resource? Maybe use if with our grandchildren too? Just thinking.

I teach summer school and I use BookFlix.  This pertains to students in lower grades usually PreK-3.  I do have low functioning high school students that love to navigate through BookFlix and listen to all the different stories.  I use this for Reading Comprehension.  In BookFlix, you can have the story read to the student.  The student can then follow along and know what word the speaker is on because it highlights the word being read.  I like the fact that the book is being read to the student because sometimes when my students hear it and see it on the screen they understand the story better.  Then when the book is over, I ask them questions about what the book was about to see if they were understanding the book.  Also, the students know how to navigate and find BookFlix so if they have free time then can have a book read to them.  It is also nice because everyone can pick a different book.

In the section about using video, Salman Khan talked about how he started khanacademy.org by helping his cousins through YouTube videos.  This will be a wonderful resource for the students that I facilitate online.  Sometimes they are not able to understand a concept, and they must show mastery before they can move on to the next concept.  This will be a great way for them to see how something is done using another source.  I can also see this resource being used while I am substituting in a classroom.  There are 2200 videos, many of which are for math and science concepts.  I found that they cover all the concepts that are in the Apex units I facilitate.  It will also be a great resource for my grandchildren to use.

There are also many of the AEA Online resources that will help my grandchildren with History Day, Night of the Notables and other classroom projects.  I sure wish they had been around when my children were struggling with finding pictures and primary sources for projects.  Since I contacted one of the schools I work with, I was able to get the username and password to explore several of the resources.  This summer two grandsons that live in Kiev, Ukraine will be staying with us for two weeks.  I think that I now have resources for rainy or very hot days...and maybe we'll make the fruit compote recipe from CultureGrams too.

I went to AEA online and selected Culturegrams, http://online.culturegrams.com/index.php.  We have students that cannot handle the curriculum in the Geography regular class setting.  So the students are asked to make power points over a number of states.  Various information is required.  In watching and assisting students I found that they spend a lot of time searching each individual piece of information where they could go on this site and obtain all the information they need.  They are required to draw and color a map and the state flag which is all available on this site.  I also like the idea of getting an insiders perspective on daily life.  I think we should plan to expand this project to countries also.

I went to AEA Online and chose Britannica  (http://school.eb.com/).  I chose Middle and searched for Volcano.  We have a volcano project for our 8th grade Earth Science that I am rewriting to fit our PBL directive. I will use this site for a start for their research on a world area of volcanoes.  Using this site will allow me to direct students to articles of their reading level.  This will help the lower level reading and challenge the upper level reader.  Most of the information they will need can be found at this site.

I also enjoyed Salman Khan's video about how he started khanacademy.org. I truly believe in the concept of "flipped" classrooms and think that I could have benefited greatly from such a learning environment when I was in school.  I think that it is VERY important for the students to have prior content knowledge before the session even begins, so that during class the kids can work cooperatively.  I am hoping to try this concept with my MS school music students this year. I'm hoping it will be a huge success considering how much they love their smartphones!

Music especially is VERY hands on - students are actively engaged during the whole class period, that's why I love teaching it, however, if my students could access our music class "educational teaching" videos at home, then they will be able to learn the music at their own pace, and won't have to worry about the time constraints of class to learn the material.

Currently, I do not have an access ID through my school for the AEA online resources, but it will be one of the first things I ask for when I start! I will for sure be using the Learn 360 and Soundzabound with my students and will be experimenting with others as well.  I can see benefits from each of them!

Since I teach in a nontraditional setting, I am going to implement one of the databases provided by AEA with my basketball team.  I am very excited to use culturegrams with my recruited student athletes!  I plan to mail each incoming player a letter containing the link to the culturegrams (www.onlineculturegrams.com/states/index.php), accompanied by a series of questions about their soon to be new home:  Iowa!  (I have players coming from all over the country!)  The following inquisitions can all be answered by scavenging the information on the site:
1.  What town in Iowa is home to the largest coffee pot in the world, and how many gallons does it hold?
2.  What is the population of Iowa?
3.  What farm animal raised in Iowa outnumbers humans 5 to 1?
4.  In what year did corn first appear in Native American gardens?
5.  Which side was Iowa on during the Civil War?
6.  In what year was the Iowa territory established?
7.  In 1918 what company began manufacturing tractors in Iowa?
8.  What Iowa native was elected president of the United States in 1928?
9.  What Iowa artist painted the American Gothic?
10.  What river forms Iowa's eastern border?

Upon completing the questions about Iowa, I will then ask my players to formulate inquiries about their own states.  I will have the kids develop 10 questions to share with the rest of the team upon arrival in the fall.  Meeting in a computer lab, each player will present their questions for the rest of the team to answer, using culturegrams.  I think this will be a wonderful, stress-free way for students to introduce their backgrounds and become familiar with one another!

I choose “Click, Clack, Cows that Moo” from Book Flix.  As a substitute teacher I don't have a user name or password, to log in.  I wan't able to log on even from the professional development online site.  When exploring the sight, I clicked on the Book FLIX link and it took me to the Scholastic sales page link.  So I decided to sign up for a free trial.  This is only offered to teachers with a classroom or librarians.  I then watched the sales video to learn about Book Flix.  I love it.  The same was “Click, Clack, Cows that Moo,” paired up with the non-fiction book, “Let's visit a dairy.”  BookFlix lets you show the words being read in highlight.  I love this feature and I would definitely use that in the classroom.  The reading is followed by a hands on vocabulary game that gives immediate feedback.

The other source I can see using a lot with lower elementary, where I usually work, is 360 learning.  I liked the resources there.  To view this resource I clicked on the sample lesson plans.  When I clicked on the link, it showed me a movie title.  I looked up that title on U-tube and viewed it there.  It was a reading rainbow video on immigration to Ellis Island.  It was fascinating and really helped a person connect to how the passengers felt.

This year I will be working as  a Kindergarten Paraprofessional.  I am so glad I got to learn about these resources.  My students will have IEPs and I think it will be very helpful to have some background into  these, if the teacher lets me use with them the students I'm focusing on.

Since I don't have a username or password yet it was somewhat frustrating not being able to explore more while taking the course.  However, as I was getting ready to reply to this my 12 yr son walked by and I asked him if he had ever used the Iowa AEA Online site at school and he said, "a little".  So, we selected the Students tab in the upper right hand corner of the home screen and then I went over to the left and selected Soundzabound.  He then told me his school has one username and password that everyone in the school uses for the site so he typed it in and I was able to get access.  YAY!!  :)

I first decided to browse by category.  As I looked through the vast array of categories to choose from I decided to try searching for a combination.  In the search bar on the left, I typed in two separate words Sports Rock.  A list of music appeared along with the Artist, Title, Category, Length, and the ability to play and/or download.  Seeing the length was helpful since I was looking for an upbeat sound to use with 5th graders during their transitions between stations.  I was able to play the ones that were 15 seconds in length to listen to the ones that would best suit my situation.  I believe strongly in the use of music during my classes and I think music is a valuable management tool.  When students hear the transition music they know its time to stop and move on and they only have a short amount to make that transition.  The music is the start and stop signal while conveying an upbeat atmosphere rather than the sterile silence used in the past.

This is the list I was able to view and choose from:  http://www.soundzabound.com/audio/search/sports%20rock 

http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=2486
I really like TeachingBooks.Net. One of the ways I would use it in my classroom is to supplement the teaching of a class novel. I have gone to the novel, Freak the Mighty, on this site. I would use my projector and as a class we would listen to the author tell us how he became a writer, got his ideas for this book, watch a book trailer, and listen to him read the beginning chapter to us. There are lesson plan ideas and also some related readings if students want to read other books dealing with the same topic or other books by Rodman. This is a great resource for use with class novels.

I teach middle school reading. I really liked the www.teachingbooks.net site. I searched "Iowa Teen Awards books 2014" and the list immediate came up. I do an activity called a Book Pass to introduce kids to new books and help them create a list of books they would like to read for that quarter. I usually do my own introduction of the books. This year I plan to use the resources on this site. I love the book trailers and author interviews. I'm excited to add this site to my curriculum this year!
http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?lid=4005&a=1

I browsed the Teen Health and Wellness section of the AEA website. I found a great tool for my classroom using their budgeting and money management skills. The website is...

http://teenhealthfiles.rosenpub.com/articles/budgeting.html

I teach in a resource classroom in the high school setting. This site explains in detail the importance of budgeting, knowing where and how you spend your money, setting money aside for bills, and explains how you need to prepare for unforeseen expenses. My favorite part of the article is the hands on calculator that you can use by entering in numbers that you might currently spend on different expenses every month like clothes, entertainment, food/snacks, transportation, health, and school supplies, ect.. I talk a lot in the classroom about budgeting and learning how to take care of your money for the life skills I think my students need before they graduate. This article/resource I found in the AEA website within 5 minutes so it can be a time saver and really be helpful for teachers like myself with students that are in need of basic lifeskills.  

During the course, I was immediately drawn toward TeachingBooks.net. Last year, the students who were highly profiecient at my grade level prepared and competed in our own version of Battle of the Books (we called it Battle of the Bookworms). Students read, discussed, and created book questions during enrichment/intervention time over books from the Iowa Children's Choice Award list. One struggle we found as teachers was providing students with additional inforamtion about the books and the authors to extend their learning. It took a lot of time to research each book and compile all the information into one place.

This year I am excited to use TeachingBooks.net as a great resources for students to learn about the books and authors on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list - http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?lid=4004. When the school year begins, I anticipate introducing the students to several books on the list whether it be through trailers or visiting the authors' websites. The objective of this is to allow students to preview the books and get them excited about reading them. At some point in the year, I would like to pick one of these books to read together as a group. Several books on the site have links to lesson plans/discussion guides. This will make planning much easier.

I went to the Iowa AEA's main site (http://www.iowaaeaonline.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/Students) and looked within the "Students" tab resources.  I clicked on the link on the left side, entitled "Learn 360" & was taken to this site, http://www.learn360.com/Default.aspx?Pageid=371217 .  From there, I clicked the "Browse Standards" link, found near the search bar at the top of the site.  I then clicked on STATE STANDARDS....and then LANGUAGE ARTS.....and then KINDERGARTEN.  

I then chose a specific standard strand to explore....IA.CC.RF.K.(View 939 resources meeting this standard) Reading Standards: Foundational Skills.  I was taken to a long list of video resources that could be used with students in support of these standards.  I could see myself using these video clips to support various reading strategies, even beyond the foundational skill standards.  Kindergarten students have a limited attention span, so varying the presentation of different types of literature is a must.  These videos clips will give me another media source to use in presenting stories and books.  I am positive the Kindergarten students will respond well to this form of presentation as well.  

Each video clip I choose will be used in a different ways to reach positive student learning outcomes efficiently.  The Learn 360 resources will help to enhance my language arts lesson plans, and I am excited to explore the subject area standard resources as well.  I love that the site gives you the opportunity to locate the resources through the standards, since our lessons and classroom actives are driven by them.  

I used BookFLIX as my place to start learning about the AEA online resources.  I worked through the AEA site and signed on to BookFLIX.  I navigated to the place where the book "Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson was available.  The web address is:  http://bkflix.grolier.com/p/node-33978/bk0001pr.

BookFLIX pairs a storybook with a non-fiction book.  You can watch the story of "Bear Snores On."  It was a video story with music, a nice reader, and illustrations from the book often jazzed up with blowing snow across the page and effects like that.  The non-fiction book was "A Bear Cub Grows Up."  For both books you could listen to it being read with the words highlighted as they were being said.  You could also turn this off.  Vocabulary words were in yellow and you could click on them to get a definition to appear which was also read aloud.

After reading the stories there were several activities to try.  There was a game of "Which Came First?"  Three scenes were shown and you had to drag them to the first, next, last spaces.  Another resource was called "Word Match."  There were six vocabulary words.  This was a little harder.  Pre-readers would need help.  There was cute music and reinforcement in the form of a picture that appeared as each word was matched correctly.  Finally, there was an activity called "Fact or Fiction."  This had four activities from the book and you had to click fact or fiction for each.

Another tab was called "Explore the Web."  There were links to making up your own story, an animal sounds library, and video clips from BBC Nature.  

I was very impressed with BookFLIX and cannot wait to explore more books.  Outcomes would be very good especially if a family member were to visit this site with their child initially.  Later, the child could go back and play the games and listen to the books on his or her own and continue to extend the learning and reading.