Chinese New Year

February 9th, 2008

Make a fire-breathing dragon mask
Games, poems, paper lanterns and more
Lots of crafts & activities for learning about China & Chinese New Year
Wreath
Crayola has lots of projects
Chinese Zodiac game
See and read explanations of Chinese New Year with video clip of the New Year parade and celebration, a Fortune Cookie Factory and more
China, Chinese New Year’s, and The Giant Panda Bear Themes
Lots more info on 2008 - The Year of the Rat


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Ramy Brooks - PETA are you watching?

January 9th, 2008

How can a guy who shakes, kicks, hits with a lath (a thin wooden trail marker) & beats his dogs Only get a 2-year ban in the Iditarod? It seems you must be a 12-time race finisher, two-time runner-up, come from one of mushing’s ‘royal families’ and be one of the race’s most popular mushers.
If this type of crap is given only a two-year ban, I will rethink What I teach my kid about this sport.
Anchorage Daily News
Ramy Brooks got lucky.

Note: I originally posted this on myspace May 20, 2007. I am revisiting this because the Iditarod is coming up March 1, 2008. My educational links that contain facts about the Iditarod are on my other blog at Homeschooling on a Shoestring Blog - Iditarod. I understand that the media exaggerates and mistakes happen. What upset me when I originally posted that last May was that this was this man’s sport and his valued dogs were hurt and he was the abuser, and he was only given a 2 year ban. I do not like animal abuse. I also began to question my thoughts, teachings and myself. Walter McKenzie of Surfaquarium makes his notes at What About the Dogs?. His site has given me a better perspective.


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The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

December 31st, 2007

The prototype for all science fiction, H. G. Wells’s fantastic novel will not let you out of its grip as it narrates the invasion of Earth by ruthless Martians. In 1938, a radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds—done in the style of a news broadcast—panicked the listening public.
http://www.bartleby.com/1002/
War of the Worlds lesson plans from Discovery/School.
H. G. Wells at Web English teacher has a short list of lesson plan links for War of the Worlds (and Time Machine).
Course Materials for the Study of Science Fiction and specifically for War of the Worlds.
Study Guide for H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds
Radio’s War of the Worlds Broadcast (1938)
The Script from The War of the Worlds broadcast in 1938.
Web edition of The War of the Worlds.
War of the Worlds: The Theater Movies
War of the Worlds, The (1953) - clips, quotes, reviews, links from IMDb.
How Orson Welles Drew the Nation into a Shared Illusion - an essay.
The Mercury Theatre on the Air


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My Favorite Martian

December 31st, 2007

Free downloadable (pdf) poster of Earth/Mars Comparison. I tried to fill out the form to have a poster sent to us, but kept getting error messages. However - you can still download it yourself for free.
Check out the latest on the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Also see the sidebar for kids and educators pages.
Mars scientists are asking students from around the world to help them understand the red planet. Send in a rock you collected from your region of the world, and they’ll use a special tool like the one on the rover to tell you what it’s made of. Then you can compare their rocks to the ones found on Mars.
Exploring Mars, created by a group of scientists from Jet Propulsion Lab and University of California at Los Angeles, is a great place to start for reports (try Mars at a Glance) or browsing for the fun of it. The Mars Science section is outstanding, and the Mars History section is fascinating. “The Babylonians called Mars Nergal - the great hero, the king of conflicts.” Lots of photos and illustrations, and a good navigation system make this site work for all ages.
Do a search on Google for Mars Spirit Rover
Play an online Mars Scrambler puzzle
Do a Planet Word Search
Become a Martian Weather Reporter with activities from this site.
Listen to sounds on Mars
Enchanted Learning: Mars had info for littles as well as a Mars Book: A Printable Book for Fluent Readers. To print them out in full-size you must have a paid membership which I think is a great deal. It does show the thumbnails.
Build Your Own Mars Pathfinder Spacecraft Model.
http://www.challenger.org/teachers/lessons/voyagemars.cfm has lessons to help you to prepare your kids for their exciting mission to space.
Learning Page has a hundred worksheets for under grade 4. They require a free registration. View their Space Fact Files for Mars. The fact sheets cut outs and murals are clearly adaptable for any classroom.


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Free Lesson Plans

October 17th, 2006

I found this while doing some research a bit ago. You can choose your lesson plans by Arts subject (dance, music, etc), Subject or Grade Band (3 different grade ranges). Lots of neat ideas. Example, one of the newer lesson plans is Freedom Quilts. Included with this lesson plan is quilt shapes (in pdf), quiz, rubric, related lessons, standards and sources. This is something I’ll definitely be adding to the main website.

Here’s the description from their website:

ARTSEDGE is the Kennedy Center’s interactive education program for K-12 teachers, parents and students. Founded in 1991, ARTSEDGE supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through and about the arts. Through its Web site, as well as innovative print and integrated media materials, ARTSEDGE offers free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/teach/les.cfm


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