Current events in the world

Yesterday, the government released the study regarding Iraq and the future of US involvement in the region.
The link: http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps76748/iraq_study_group_report.pdf

National Geographic website http://www.nationalgeographic.com/iraq/ contains news stories, history of the region and country of Iraq and lesson plans for teachers to incorporate into their curriculum.

The Teachers corner

This website has a complete thematic unit to be used during the month of November. It deals with the holidays, and centers primarily on Colonial America.

http://www.theteacherscorner.net/thematicunits/current.htm

Guest blogger Annie Lewis

Holidays for the Classroom

This is a great website for bulletin boards. They are links to multiple websites, and they're arranged by holiday, season, or content area. They range anywhere from P-K through upper-elementary. Enjoy!
http://www.gigglepotz.com/bulletin.htm

Mrs. Alger's 3rd grade class
Spring Creek Elementary
Spring Creek NV





This website is a great resource for any classroom. All of the national holidays are listed in chronological order. Underneath the holiday there are anywhere from three to ten links to websites about that holiday. At the bottom of the page, there are links to websites that show holidays of other countries. http://www.kathimitchell.com/holidays.html

Guest blogger Annie Lewis

Winter Snow cream

In the holiday season, and since there is snow in Oklahoma, this is a great recipe to use and to save for future use when working with children. It also conveniently covers the content areas of science, math, health, and social studies. Happy Snow Cream making!!

Sandy's Old-time Snow Cream Recipe
From: Yary Hluchan
Basic Recipe
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
large bowl of snow (about 3 quarts)
Blend milk, sugar and vanilla. Stir in enough snow to make snow cream to an ice cream consistency.
Variations - There are many variations for snow cream. For example, substitute canned cream for milk for a heavier flavor. Add Nestles Quik for a chocolate snow cream, or use instant cocoa mix. Another variation is to add plump raisins and cinnamon, or add a beaten egg for a nog taste. Puree an overripe banana and add to the mixture. Get creative - you know your family's tastes.

Note: ALWAYS - ALWAYS make sure the snow is clean. It takes at least one
to two hours for snow to clean the pollutants from the air, then use only snow that has fallen after that first cleansing snow. It also goes without saying, but I will anyway, to make sure you do not collect the snow where animals and birds eat (or do other things). Cleanliness first. Stress that with the kids, because this is a treat even the younger ones can make for the whole family.

Thanks to Sarah Wiemero, guest blogger

Science Fair Ideas and BrainPOP

Science Fair ideas
There’s this great website (www.all-science-fair-projects.com) that has over 500 free science fair ideas for kids from elementary school all the way through high school. The website is free and easy to use. You can topic search, keyword search, or simply browse around till you find something useful! They claim that they have “hundreds of ideas for every science topic, from Astronomy to Zoology!” This website would be a great resource for a teacher, student-teacher, parent, or a blooming scientist!

The website is truly amazing. As you familiarize yourself with it, you will see that you can do searches based on the level difficulty you need, and the topics really are endless as they are extremely precise and very articulate. As a wonderful launching pad for creative ideas with instructions, All-science-fair-projects.com acts as a central base to thousands of ideas. It is sure to give credit to other websites and sources when they are used. Make sure you visit www.all-science-fair-projects.com for great ideas and solid information before making your next science fair project or lesson plan!

BrainPOP

I have recently fallen in love with a website based on curriculum. I know, I know. The website: www.brainpop.com is a curriculum-based site that includes activities, movies, quizzes, comic strips, experiments, and printable worksheets on Science, Math, English, Social Studies, Health, and Technology. It was founded in 1999 and is available in Spanish. BrainPOP is geared towards grades 3-12, and has a sister-website for grades K-3 (www.brainpopJR.com). BrainPOP is not free ($175.00/year for one teacher), but a free 14-day trial is available.

Thanks to Sarah Wiemero, Guest blogger

Stress in the Classroom

Everyone experiences stress. People experience different forms of stress. It may not seem true, but young children also face stress daily. Children face stress inside and outside the classroom. Many school-aged children are affected by school-related stressors.

A stressor is any event that either speeds up a reaction rate or keeps the reaction rate the same. For the school-aged child, daily stressors may include anxiety about school, conflicts with teachers, competition with peers or siblings, lack of parental interest, personal injury or loss, poor grades, fear of success or failure, and fear of medical visits and procedures.

The teacher should identify symptoms and recognize when the child is facing a stressor. Children need help from the teacher and parents in learning how to cope with the stress that they face. The main goal for a child with stress is to relax and encourage the child to openly talk about the problems they are facing.

The following website provides information on stress management and how children cope with stress.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/familydevelopment/components/7269ad.html

Guest Blogger Kimberly Dietrick

Science and Language Arts

Here is a list of books that we currently have in the curriculum library or they are on Net library where as the teacher you can gain ideas of how to integrate science and literature together in your curriculum.

ED REf
372.6
SCH 2

Using Caldecotts Across the Curriculum: Reading and Writing mini lessons, Math and Science Spin offs, Unique Art Activities, and more by Joan Novelli.


ED ELEM
372.3
IDEAS
BRA

Literature- Based Science Activities: An Integrated Approach. by Audrey Brainard and Denise H. Wrubel

ED ELEM
372.3
IDEAS
BUT

Science through Children’s Literature: An Integrated Approach (2^nd edition). by Carol M. Butzow and John W. Butzow

ED ELEM
372.3
IDEAS
BUT 1

Intermediate Science through Children’s Literature Over Land and Sea, by Carol M. Butzow and John W. Butzow

ED ELEM
372.3
IDEAS
BUT 2

Science through Children’s Literature: An Integrated Approach. by Carol M. Butzow and John W. Butzow

ED ELEM
372.3
IDEAS
GER

Teaching Physical Science through Children’s Literature: 20 complete lessons for Elementary grades. by Susan E. Gertz, Dwight J. Portman, and Mickey Sarquis.

ED ELEM
372.3
GLA

Caldecott Connection to Science. by Shan Glandon.

Books on Net Library
Note: If you do not know how to access the Net library ask one of the librarians.

NETLIBRARY BUTZOW
More science through children's literature [computer file]: an integrated approach by Carol M. Butzow and John W. Butzow

NETLIBRARY BUTZOW 2
Science through children's literature [computer file]: an integrated approach by Carol M. Butzow and John W. Butzow

Here are a few website that may also help
<>http://oncampus.richmond.edu/~pstohrhu/profdevelop/childlit.html

<>http://www.physics.emich.edu/ebehringer/JoAnneS/webpage/397PHY_webpage.html

Thanks to Jennell Morfitt, guest blogger

The Curriculum Library ...a great place to visit

Social Studies Project Nov 7 The Roaring Twenties

Students from Horace Mann 5th grade experienced a living museum that featured recreations of The Roxy, Harlem streets, homes of the time, grocery stores, New York Yankees stadium, Woman's Temperance crusader, a back room speakeasy and live piano performances at the Cotton Club. Throughout the day students learned lessons about financial climate at the time and were given envelopes filled with money. At the end of the day, the students discovered how their money and investments did during the stock market crash of 1929.

Home life, general store and inventions:
Megan Madison
Elizabeth Rountree
Elizabeth Otten

Yankee Stadium and other entertainment/famous entertainers.
Mendi Richerson
Barbara Merriman
Kristen McConathy

Prohibition
Jennifer Morris
Tracy Dotson
and guests

Harlem Renaissance
Annie Lewis
Katy Rader
Lacey Anderberg

Joel Dixon and Jeanne Akin were New York Times Reporters, undercover

Special thanks goes to Horace Mann 5th graders who were Jr. NY Times reporters undercover

School Nurses can educate children about Infection

Strep Throat
It’s that time of year when children start to miss school days from being sick. Coats are forgotten and the weather turns to cold. Children are confined to the classroom and hand washing techniques are not always completed. This encourages the spread of infection.
Strep throat is an infection that is very common among school-aged kids and teens. The common symptoms of strep throat include fever, stomach pain, and red, swollen tonsils. Further symptoms that will develop within three days include:
red and white patches in the throat
difficulty swallowing
tender or swollen glands (lymph nodes) in the neck
headache
general discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling
loss of appetite and nausea
rash

The bacteria can spread easily from person to person by sneezing, coughing, or shaking hands. After experiencing several symptoms, a call to the child’s doctor is a good idea. Most likely the doctor will do a rapid strep test and the infection can be diagnosed in a few minutes.

Treatment for strep throat is an antibiotic medication prescribed from the doctor. Also, it is important that the child gets plenty of rest and drinks plenty of fluids in order to prevent dehydration. In about 24 hours after taking the antibiotics, the temperature should be back to normal and the child should no longer be contagious. After a few days, the symptoms should start to go away.
It is very important to teach children in the classroom the importance of Hand Washing!
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/lung/strep_throat.html

Government website for especially for kids

This site is maintained by the Federal Citizen's Information Center and is specifically designed for kids. This site provides links to Government sites for kids as well as other reputable sources of information. The site is organized by subject which include Arts, Careers, Computers, Fighting Crime, Fun Stuff, Geography, Global Village, Government, Health, History, Homework, Money, Music, Plants and Animals, Recreation, Safety, Science and Math, Space, State Sites and Transportation.

Science Sites by Kimberly

Science is very a very important part in the education of elementary children. Not only will teachers be implementing science into the lesson plans, but parents also should encourage the child’ s learning and excitement about science. Listed below are simple science projects and experiments that can be used the classroom or at home.

This website includes lists of science project ideas and topics.
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/projects.html

This website is for teachers to use experiments and science projects in their lesson plan, as well as ideas to decorate a science wall.
http://www.proteacher.com/110053.shtml

This website is for teachers and elementary students that provides general sites for science, topics and fun activities.
http://www.homeworkspot.com/elementary/science/

Science projects, experiments, and activities that are implemented will help raise the interest level of children in science education.

Teacher Created Resources

Teacher Created Resources has a page on their website that they offer free ideas and resources to teachers. They also give away a free e-book once a month to those who sign up with them to get their updates. This month's free book is on technology. Many of the practical resources we have in the curriculum library have come from Teacher Created Resources.

Their site offers

Free Lesson Plans, Worksheets & Activities
- for 400+ free lesson plans using keywords.
-Lessons can be viewed by Subject and Grade.
-This week's featured subject: Mathematics.

Free Monthly Calendars
Our monthly calendars are packed with daily items of interest!
--You can currently download October, November and December

Free Teaching Tip of the Month
--See this month's teaching tip.
--Free Monthly Activities
-- In October the have included activities for Computer Learning Month and Halloween. You'll also find related clip art, Web sites, and products.
Free Brain Teasers
See this week's brain tickler.

Harper Collins Children's Literature

Harper Collins, the book publishers, have a great website for teachers and librarians. Click on the title above to visit this site.

Features:
What's New -- they feature new books and rereleased favorites.
Authors and Illustrators -- in this section, Harper Collins features a short author/illustrator biography and the other books that they have produced. Below this, they have an extensive list of authors and illustrators that you can click on that include a short biography. Many of the authors featured have personal websites, podcasts or videos to view.
Awards and Honors -- in this section you can search books by the awards that they have won. The awards list is extensive.
Teaching Resources -- This section includes downloadable/printable teaching and reading guides for the books.
Book Activities -- This section has printable pages for teachers to use to reinforce learning.

This site will become a favorite for Elementary, Reading , English and Language Arts teachers.

National Indian Education Study: Part II released

This morning the National Center for Education Statistics released National Indian Education Study: Part II; the educational experiences of 4th- and 8th- grade American Indian and Alaska Native Students. Also known by the acronym "NIES".Here is the press release with links to the report in PDF--http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007454Here is the Executive Summary of the report (about two screens)--
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/studies/2007454.aspHere is the publication (148 pages)--http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/studies/2007454.pdf
And if you missed NIES, Part 1, here it is--http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006463

Message from Steve Beleu Oklahoma Department of Libraries sbeleu@oltn.odl.state.ok.us

Calliope World History magazine from Cobblestone Publication

The curriculum library now has all back issues of Calliope magazine beginning 1990 to the present. Calliope is a magazine that is designed for grades 3-8 and focuses on events in world history. You can find this magazine in ED SEC 308. Here are the upcoming themes for CALLIOPE ®

2006 - 2007 School Year
September -- Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
October-- Mesopotamia
November --Greece vs. Persia: Centuries of Conflict
December -- Julius Caesar
January -- Music Travels the Silk Road
February -- China - at the Forefront with Technology
March -- Korea's Silla Dynasty
April -- The French Revolution
May -- Epic Heroes

2007 - 2008 School Year
September -- Akhenaten, Egypt's Heretic King
October -- The Birth of Ancient India
November -- Greek Olympics
December -- Heroes and Heroines of Early Rome
January -- Maps
February -- Mythical Monsters
March -- Genghis Khan
April -- Joan of Arc
May -- Inventions

Science Bulletin Boards from Sarah Wiemero

I found this great website for bulletin boards! Conveniently categorized by subject areas and themes, almost all the bulletin board ideas come with a picture! The ideas are fun, fresh, and creative, and would be a great addition to any classroom or hallway.

Here are a few of my favorites:
Have your class "pitch in a hand" with this tribute to the United States by Sharon Brandt.















For the science side of the room, this bulletin board clearly demonstrates the water cycle with a realistic diagram by Mr. Michael Koloski.













Safety First! Beware Stranger Danger is a great idea for the hallway in an elementary school reminding kids to be careful about strangers by Kay Robinson.













So have fun creating helpful and vibrant bulletin boards for your students! And be sure to stop by the Curriculum Library to make use of our die cuts, borders, paper, and laminating services!
(all pictures taken from http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=20303&ck=).

Sarah Wiemero Family Development Major

Science Websites to visit

One of the best resources around is kidsites.com science websites. There are multiple places for kids to visit and learn about different concepts of science


Amusement Park Physics is a sight that actually lets kids design their own roller coaster. They get to choose the height of the first and second hills, the slope after the hill, and an optional loop. At the end they receive a fun rating and a safety rating. They can view why their roller coaster did not pass the requirements and make changes accordingly. This site offers the dynamics of physics in a way that is concise and interactive.



Another site listed is National Geographic’s Beyond 2000. Researchers and inventors share possible things that can happen in the next generation. These items include video watches, global positionaling to locate lost kids, and door-to-door transit systems. There is also a place for kids to share their own thoughts about what might happen in the future.






BrainPop is a website full of interactive things for kids to do with many subject areas. They have short videos that teach concepts such as kinetic energy, eclipses, and the electromagnetic spectrum. Each subject has a printable activity page involving crosswords or word finds. Some of the videos require membership in order to view them but all the topics are available for free along with many other resources.




Bill Nye the Science Guy’s website offers many home experiments. They are divided into three categories: life science, physical science, and planetary science. Each experiment uses everyday items and could be used inside or outside the classroom. There is also a question of the week answered by Bill and even a letter from him explaining why Pluto is no longer considered a planet.



Jessica Geer Secondary Education Math Major

Head to Toe Science

Do children in the classroom receive enough science education? Does the teacher express the importance of science? How can the teacher make science fun and interesting? These are questions that should be addressed when incorporating science education into lesson plans.

Head to Toe Science, by Jim Wiese, is a great source to use in the classroom to inform children about the body. This entertaining book includes fund activities and experiments for the children to enjoy. Aside from the experiments, this book presents information about the circulatory system, muscles, digestion, senses, other body parts and their function.

Any teacher implementing the science of human body systems into the lesson plan should come and check out the new book by Jim Weise, Head to Toe Science.

By preservice nursing major Kimberly Dietrick

ELED 4164 Language Arts and Children's Literature

Bulletin boards created by Dr. Belshe's class. Students include Ali Evans, Meisha Meredith, Katy Rader, Sarah Gibson, Kristi Budka, Elizabeth Otten, Joel Dixon, Andrea Koster, Annie Lewis, Dana Hollis, Elizabeth Roundtree and Nicole Cummings.

The Nineteen Twenties Social Studies Project

Listed below are five websites that will have brief overviews of the 1920’s.

Wikipedia – has a fairly extensive listing of the things that occurred in the 20’s including
Technology, war and peace, science, literature and arts, economics, culture and religion, sports figures, politicians and world leaders and styles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920s

This site shows a quick overview of the time period and hits the highlights in People, music, literature, politics, clothing, inventions, art entertainment, and fads and fashions.
http://www.angelfire.com/co/pscst/

Site written and researched by school aged children. Interesting perspective.
http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/elmer/infoCentral/frameset/decade/1920.htm

“The purpose of this web/library guide is to help the user gain a broad understanding of the Roaring 1920s. While there is no way we can link to everything, we have attempted to find areas of special interest and to select information that we hold dear today, for example books we love - movies we watch - songs we sing - events we find interesting - people we admire.”
http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade20.html

Brief Timeline of American Literature, Music, and Movies 1920-1929
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/1920m.html

The following resources are listed in the OBU catalog. The Curriculum library has the first 3 items listed below that are specific to the 1920’s and I have pulled other Cobblestones that contain information about the 1920's. These will be held at the curriculum library desk for all to view. The netlibrary book can be viewed online and the Reference book is located on the first floor in our reference collection.

ED SEC 309 GAR6 Roaring 20's & depressing 30's [electronic resource]Gardner, Paul (Paul Henry)
This resource has a cd-rom with pictures/sounds and documents from this time period. The CD is in the student computer for you to use and view.

ED PER 372.83 COB V.27 NO.4 2006Those roaring 20s

ED ELEM 372.83 BOW 17 The Nation in Prosperity and Poverty / y Mariah Marvin and Clancy CarlileMarvin, Mariah

NETLIBRARY XX(218013.1) Daily life in the United States, 1920-1939 [electronic resource] : decades of promise and pain / David E. KyvigKyvig, David E.

REF 391 T971GX V.2The 20s & 30s : flappers & vamps / Cally BlackmanBlackman, Cally.

Children's Literature of the time.

Caldicott Award winners
1922: The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon 1923: The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting 1924: The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes 1925: Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger 1926: Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman 1927: Smoky, the Cowhorse by Will James 1928: Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji 1929: The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly

1920: Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
1920: Hugh Lofting's charming Story of Dr. Doolittle talks to the animals.
1925: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, a novel of the tragedy of success
1926: A.A. Milne writes of Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, and Piglet.

FREE Science Resources for your future classroom

After cataloging over 800 new resources this summer, which included 5 sets of donated textbooks, I realized that we had multiple copies of Harcourt and McMillan McGraw Hill 2007 Science textbooks. Since space is limited, we will be giving these away when school starts on the 21st of August. The book truck will be in the hallway with a sign marked "FREE BOOKS"

Saxon Phonics Grade 1 Resources available

New Classroom set of Phonics resources courtesy of Saxon Publishing for the Elementary Language Arts classes in the fall. Click on the title above to see what is included in the set.
Call number in the Curriculum Library
ED ELEM
372.4145
SAX