Here are a few great deals (freebies!), some interesting & time saving websites, and a great science center that I have run across this week. Just had to share. Some of you may have seen these but thought they were worth bringing to everyone’s attention.

For Educators

12/1/2008
Where is Santa? When will he visit my house? Find out! Google is delighted to once again be the technology partner for NORAD Tracks Santa, enabling kids of all ages to learn about geography as they follow Santa on his Christmas eve journey around the world.
Simply go to www.google.com/educators, a can’t be missed site for the younger set and the kids at heart as well.

Also at Google ……. Computer Science Unplugged [PDF]
An enrichment and extension program for primary-aged children
Tim Bell, Ian H. Witten and Mike Fellows, Teachers

A simple and thorough binary lessons unit with a Holiday exercise as well!!
Weekly Reader, December 2, 2008 Issue has some great science center ideas.  I particularly enjoyed the short demonstration/explanation of sound waves AKA “Now Hear This.”  It has a very simplistic approach yet it hits all the points.
The other topics covered were Sound, Tornadoes, Internal Combustion Systems, DNA, and Electricity.  I was a tad worried that the verbiage might be a little difficult so I tested my question on 3 of my tutoring students who are 11, 13, and 15.  Thankfully they agreed that they were all entertaining yet educational or in their words, “They were pretty tight.”  From the mouths of babes.  Weeklyreader.com Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Teacherspayteachers.com
An open market place for teachers including but not limited to:

• time savers (always a must),
• speech writing tips for students,
• graphic organizers (of course) for reading instruction,
• critical thinking through graphing, (my personal favorite)
• writing biography tips for students, (this one was very helpful this evening
• while helping a freshman with her first biography)
• multicultural science contributions,
• clock templates,
• adult education materials, (this is a hard one to find-adult & ESL)

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Articles for Teachers.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.