More Great Olympic Classroom Resources

In my research for great activities linking the Olympics to classroom content, I came across more great resources from the New York Times Learning Network, posted each day this week and divided by subject area.

I loved the suggestions that they had for the history, geography, and social studies lessons because they called for a debate on whether it is worth the expense to hold the Olympics in your country.  They developed lessons around the financial realities and asked students to select a city near their community and present a proposal.  They even supplied a link to great pictures of where the Winter Olympic events might be held in New York City!

That of course got me to thinking!  Who has bid on the 2022 Winter Olympics?  It turns out that there are some interesting options!  I set up a SCAN lesson (free online discussion tool found at TregoED.org) and a livebinder with resources on the five countries that have put in bids to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Why not have your students select one of the countries, do a little research, look at the criteria to support their country’s bid and determine who should be selected?

Sounds like some critical thinking, that can be followed up with some great persuasive speech or writing!

Looking for more great ideas to tie the Olympics to your content?  Math, Engineering, Language Arts, and more can be found here.

Sochi Lessons for Every Classroom

Shoveling again!  Between our record breaking cold, 7 snow days and the winter Olympics approaching, tying your lessons to snow seems like a no-brainer, no matter where you are!

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) lessons of course are an excellent fit, but why not include art (STEAM) and Reading (STREAM) and Social Studies (STREAMS)…there are lots of resources and opportunities to take advantage of this global event in your classroom.

If you have snow in your backyard, there are lots of questions you can explore:  Why does it form crystals (flakes) sometimes and other times it is just ice?  How does salt help snow to melt?  Are there environmental consequences of salting the roads?  Can you design a better snow shovel?  Why does some snow make better snow balls than others?  How do ski areas make snow?  

If you don’t have snow in your backyard (hard for me to believe!), there is plenty of snow science going on in Sochi.  I recently learned from an NBC (Orlando) reporter, Stewart Moore, on his way to cover the Olympics, that Sochi was a “tropical resort” in Russia, with weather comparable to Atlanta (except for the nearby mountains!). Snow was actually saved from last year under blankets just in case they need it!  Imagine all of the logistics involved in pulling off an event like this (science, technology, engineering, math, anyone?)!

There are lots of great resources to get students engaged in relevant learning in your content area this month!

Science:    Check out these great videos on the Science and Engineering of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games including the “Science of Ice” “Science of Snow” and “Building Faster and Better Bobsleds” complete with in-depth lesson plans!  You can find more videos on the Science of the Olympic Games 2010 related to individual sports and gear.  Just for fun, check out this fascinating sound interactive which illustrates in sound the fractions of a second separating finishers in events at the Olympics.  This was found amongst the gems offered in TeachersFirst’s Resources for the Sochi Olympics.

Technology:  Yesterday, I witnessed a great Digital Day Winter Olympic Challenge going on between students in Indiana and Lousiana.  Hosted by William Krakower in NJ, students met in a Google Hangout and answered challenge questions based on the Olympics.  The questions included “How many miles from your school to Sochi?  How many kilometers? What is the time difference between your school and Sochi?” These students were totally engaged and motivated by the hot (cold?) topic of the Winter Olympics and the social capital built in.  You can easily replicate this with your own set of questions, set up game show style within your classroom, with a class across the hall, a class across town, or a class across the globe.  Kudos to those teachers who brought this cutting-edge activity to their students despite some technical difficulties and weather cancellations.

Reading:  WhyFiles.org has some great articles that feature different perspectives, ask great questions and cover ethical issues that make for great reading and persuasive writing.  Some examples include “Sports Doctors:  Conflict of Interest?” or “Too Much Training?”  Find the articles by searching for Olympics or Science Meets Sports.  Discover more ideas for Olympic-related reading and writing activities at ReadWriteThink.

Engineering:  There are lots of opportunities for engineering research from the Olympic venue to the athlete’s gear.  Check out this simple student challenge from We are Teachers which has students build their own bobsled out of Popsicle sticks.  Or use the video on Engineering Faster and Safer Bobsleds and the accompanying guide for STEAM activities related to designing the bobsled.

Math:  Have you seen Yummy Math?  This site provides “mathematics relevant to our world today.” Their most recent post was on the lighting of the Olympic Torch and one on how Olympic ski jumping is scored, both great math lessons with authentic and timely connections.    Check out the Mathletes video and lesson for another activity on scoring in the Olympic Games.   There are some very simple ideas on what you can do with results (including fake result pages) that you can use for simple math activities involving reading and building tables. 

Social Studies:  Delve into the history of the Olympics, geography of Sochi or research an athlete to discover the culture and geography of their country.   There are lots of links for the History of the Games, Olympic Games and Politics, and Ancient Olympic Games on the TeacherVision site.

Looking for more STEM Activities?

Matt Davis provides some quality links and ideas incorporating STEM into Olympics in the student engagement blog on Edutopia.  Highlights include mapping the Olympic Torch Relay, math activities from Scholastic and great hands on activities from Science Buddies.

Looking for Debate topics?  Who should host the 2022 Winter Olympics? 

The Olympic Games are an excellent opportunity to connect the interdisciplinary dots in an engaging way!  How will you take advantage?

The Packet is Dead! (or at least it should be)

Remember the packet?  I mentioned “the packet” the other day in a workshop could see that everyone knew exactly what I was talking about.   The packet – a number of “worksheets” stapled together that students can work on independently -in theory, not so bad, in practice, not so good.  Not too long ago, there was a Youtube video, of a student ranting against the packet- (warning – “strong language”).  The video went viral, mostly because everyone understood what this student was talking about! 

However, not all packets are created equal.  Some very good project-, problem- and challenge-based learning activities start with something like a packet, but questions, challenges, and resources send students far beyond the packet.  The thing is, there are simple ways to get students to work independently, creatively, collaboratively, and thinking critically.  Why not avoid the packet all together?  You can present interactive problems with links, collaborative discussion areas, brainstorming centers and student workspaces using simple technology tools.   

Take a look of these sample projects and launch your project with the same creativity and learning objectives you expect from your students (and look like you are some kind of techno-geek in the process).  

These simple tools offer students (and parents) 24-7 access to the project that they can never lose:

Wiki – this wiki is a great example of how a problem can be presented, resources linked and places provided where students can work and share with other students.  This problem was presented to teams of teachers in the problem-based learning style. 

Livebinders- I am a great fan of Livebinders because they are so simple to use.  You can insert documents, provide links and resources all in one nice neat package (note I did not say packet!))  This one presents a challenge to students, provides links, resources, rubrics, and even a place for them to share their finished products.

Blendspace  provides a place for you to insert text to present the challenge and then places that you can link websites, photos, videos, etc. to give students different perspectives to study.  This is a great way to share informational text for common core standards. 

Ted-Ed provides a really simple interface where you can start students out with a challenge via video (or just provide a video to get them thinking) and you can then supply “The right questions” to get them thinking and learning.  You can provide links to information, and collaborative sites to enrich the lesson or project.  Here is my most recent critical thinking problem on graffiti presented Ted-ED style.

Google web site and docs – This is a great mock-up of a class web page made by the people at ITSCO for their AMLE work session.  They used a Google site with links to separate Google docs for the students to work on in small groups.  They provided a large group timeline for the entire group to work on and an exit quiz using Google forms for assessment.  What a great way to leverage all of these free Google tools to provide resources, a collaborative space and assessment.  The ITSCO people did a great job with all of their mini workshops at AMLE, you can check out their other workshops and resources  with this link.  Top quality work!

Web page I attended a PBL workshop last year, where Mr. Cooper was kind enough to share his website with us.  He shared some great examples of how a teacher might use a website to present students with a project, provide resources, etc. (Note:  he has a place where you can “print the packet” for those of you that ask “what if a child does not have access to technology at home?”) 

Want apps?  Check out apps for challenge based learning which provides suggestions for apps for launching and supporting a challenge based learning project from start to finish.

Setting up a SCAN scenario for discussion can be a great way to launch a problem-based learning experience with your students.  You can attach links customized to reading levels, and get them to see a problem from different perspectives before they get started.

Although, I might not express myself in the same way as Jeff Bliss has in his viral youtube video (although, I am pretty sure I might have in high school!) I agree that “if you want kids to come in here and get excited for this, you gotta make ‘em excited!”  PBL’s and technology are a great way to achieve that goal.  Ditch those packets, as Bliss says “you gotta take this job serious, it is the future of the nation!”

Witchful Thinking: Trick Them into Learning on Halloween

Lily Jones confesses to be a Halloween Grinch in her latest blog post, but there are plenty of creative teachers devising ways to mix the fun of the holiday in their witches’ cauldron.  The last #njed twitter discussion had my tweeps coming up with applications for every grade level and subject area. 

Ideas from the pumpkin patch

@principalarc had kids decorate pumpkins based on lit characters.  Here are some guidelines for that activity.

@mrnesi remembers predicting the volume of a pumpkin – other suggestions include counting ridges, seeds, graphing, averaging, and estimating with pumpkin seeds.

Or the candy store

Although some would rather not ruin their festivities with negative aspects of candy, you can do a lot of math with a bag of it:  count and graph, weigh for accuracy, look at nutritional information, calculate the calories in your trick or treat bag.

Or costumes from the old trunk upstairs

@wwpscience Theme it for the class. If reading a book with the class, costumes of characters. I gave credit for dressing up as scientists.

Dress as literary characters, scientists, historical figures, etc.

 

Or the science lab

Great experiements @dandanscience offers spooky science experiments

 @mrnesi – feely bags- record notes, make predictions.

Did I miss your subject area?

Of course, Jerry Blumengarten, better known as @Cybraryman1 has got you covered with his wonderful collection of links and resources for every aspect of Halloween. 

There are tons of potential writing prompts for Halloween, but what about the critical thinking component?  Are you hitting the common core?

Ratchet up their thinking

Let’s circle back to our self-proclaimed Grinch, what if your town was carefully considering cancelling Halloween?  This is the premise of the free SCAN lesson, “Should We Cancel Halloween?”  The scenario starts:

Due to some recent vandalism in your town, the town council is discussing canceling trick or treating this year.  You have been invited to the town meeting to decide what action should be taken.  After listening to the concerns of parents, students, police and council members you will help develop a plan of action for Halloween night.

Of course, using the SCAN tool, students would take on the roles of those in the meeting, visit web resources to gather evidence to support their point of view and discuss and clarify the issues online.  From this collaboration, they would decide what should be done.  Throw in a little civics with a discussion around whether the government has the right to cancel a holiday!   A little critical thinking, a little creativity and a little common core all swirled together in a witches brew!

To access this lesson and learn more about the SCAN online discussion tool, check out this short video.

Engaging Activities for the Home Stretch

For many, Memorial Day weekend signifies the home stretch.  Testing is over.  Field trips, concerts, art shows, field days, book inventories, etc.  all signal the gradual shut down of the schools and with it the minds of our students.  Add to that the heat that can come in June (along with schools that are not air conditioned) and you can run up against some cantankerous kids. 

Back in the day, we collected their books and kids did puzzles on paper.  They thought that was a treat, until they got their 7^th one of the day.   When the VCR made it into the schools, we might even had showed a movie!  But alas, our students are more sophisticated than that now (and they have seen all the movies!).

How do you keep them going?

Thanks to my twitter PLN, I have come across a few great resources to help you get to the end of the year with your sanity intact:

1.   8 Digital Ways to Wrap up your School Year – includes some simple tools that can help you digitize your end of the year activities.

As the end of the year gets closer, sometimes technology becomes less available either because of high demand or disrepair, bringing low tech resources and activities to the forefront.

2.  “How to Rejuvenate Yourself and Your Students after Testiing” by Elena Aguilar has some great ideas on incorporating creativity with engaging activities.  I have to tell you that I personally am a big fan of crayons, markers and scissors.  I think you will find your students are too!

Kids bouncing off the walls?  Why not use some of that physical energy by incorporating movement into your lessons

3.   “Just Drop It,” has students examining the correlation between the height a ball is dropped from and the height that it bounces back to, the link gives you the complete procedure and all the science information you will need to make a great learning activity. 

Do you have your box ‘o fun from this blog “10 Simple Activities for Hands and Minds”? 

4.  Have students build a Rube Goldberg contraption.  Watch this video by Honda (it’s real, no trick photography) to give you a little inspiration! Start by telling your students to build a three step contraption that will get a marble in a cup.

Came across these great activities for ELL kids, but why should they have all the fun?  Check out some of these activities for building vocabulary.

5.  Wacky Story- a great game to help students reinforce the vocabulary that they have learned throughout the year.

6.  Word Links- Assign your students each a word and have them find a partner whose word is related).  They can search for opposites; one does something to the other, etc. Have them report out what their words are and how they are related.

There are lots of other great blogs and sites that have even more ideas.  Whenever you are looking for resources in education you can always turn to Cybraryman.   Check out Jerry Blumengarten’s (Cybraryman) resource page for more links.  Or you could even check out this previously posted  “Keep on Teaching:  Great End of the Year Activities.”

Experienced and connected teachers have all sorts of resources and activities up their sleeves for just these times.  Why not share yours?

Can All Kids Learn to Think Critically?

There is no doubt in my mind that there is a special place for all teachers who adapt class activities so that their students can achieve and learn about complex topics.  I am not talking about dumbing down the work, or giving them the answers so they can pass the test, but actually adapting content or delivery, not to lower the bar, but to raise the bar.

Raising the bar goes both ways

There was an interesting discussion on the AASA discussion group on linkedin….”We talk about raising the bar for kids, do you do the same for your staff?” linked to the TregoED leadership blog.   A lot of the points brought out in this blog on staff performance also apply to our students.  Are we creating an environment of support?  Are our expectations clear?  What feedback do we give them?  The blog stated that in the workplace “Only 15% of the time is the problem (poor performance) due to an individual not having the skills, knowledge or capacity to do the job.”  Could that percentage also be applied to the students in our classrooms?

All children can think critically

I do a lot of workshops for middle and high school teachers, there is always an elementary teacher who sneaks in and asks if I think that her kids can use SCAN (a critical thinking strategy embedded in an online tool at TregoED) or other internet tools.  I have to say, if there is a will there is a way!  Many of these teachers take the time to build an environment of support and do amazing critical thinking activities with their students by altering the content, delivery and assessments.  I have written about some of their work in past blogs – The students who did a SCAN session on graffiti in her 5^th grade class, the NYC 4^th and 5^th graders who wrote PSA’s on child labor, or the special ED class in NC that did a full Situation Appraisal on bullying. 

Ask the right questions

Each of those groups tackled very complex topics by looking at the different perspectives that could be viewed on the topic and the particular issues that each point of view might be concerned with.  Being able to identify, explore and appreciate different perspectives is a great way to get kids thinking critically.  They can do it, you just have to ask them the right questions!

One size fits all

Douglass Green asked in the AASA discussion, if the bar was “one size fits all” – suggesting that it should not be for either staff or students (acknowledging of course that high stakes testing is in fact “one size fits all.”)  Does raising the bar mean everyone has to reach the same height? How do you ask your students to stretch their thinking?  

You Don't Have to Re-Invent the Wheel to Ignite your Classroom

I think that teachers are a lot like pilot lights….we always have a little flame flickering waiting for something to ignite us so we can heat up our classrooms.   I have had some great professional development opportunities lately and I am lit.  I have been an imagineer in the Magic Kingdom of PD at FETC, found golden nuggets of wisdom at TCEA in Texas and got some sweet tips and tricks at PETE-C in Hershey, PA. 

I keep a Google doc called “Aha moments”  to record the highlights of my journeys.   I learn just as much presenting as I do being a participant. As I am one of those people that has to be reminded that I even have the world at my fingertips with a camera and Google in my pocket, my aha moments might be a bit less of a splash for you.

Don't re-invent the wheel!

One thing that I always think is eye opening is that we don’t have to invent everything ourselves. Back in the olden days, you may have had a colleague that would share that test or activity that they made up or maybe they wouldn't.   The thing is that technology has made it very easy to share with the world,  and not just for those people who are willing to stand up in front of the crowd and present.   With web 2.0 sites, everyone has the opportunity to easily share what they do in the classroom…so you don’t have to “reinvent the wheel.”

Use Web 2.0 Libraries and Galleries

A lot of the popular web 2.0 tools that are out there give people the opportunity to make their work public.  Before you use one of those tools, take a look in the “libraries” or galleries that already exist in a lot of these tools.  At best, you will find something you can use tomorrow, at the very least; you will find a model or example you can build off of.

Here are some prime examples:

Livebinders are a great way to organize links, pictures, and information on a topic that kids can use in class or at home.   There is a vast library of Livebinders that teachers have made and shared in their library.  Check out this timely one on US Presidents for kids or  Web 2.0 Tools for Reluctant Writers, Common Core Middle Grades Math which features a great tab for students!  Click on the featured binders tab and go through the list of topics on the right hand side to find a binder that suits you. 

Edcanvas is another way to present pdfs, photos and text, videos, etc. on a canvas – again that students can use in class and have access to at home.  Check out some of the featured canvases in the gallery in each subject area:  Photosynthesis, Physical Geography, How Big is Infinity?

Interested in flipping your classroom?  Get your students registered into Collaborize Classroom (it’s free!) and check out the great library of critical thinking questions based on short videos, photos, literature, science social studies, etc.   Register here for your own private classroom.

Ed.ted.com is another way to flip your classroom – great short videos are accompanied by simple questions and critical thinking prompts.  Once again, there is a library of videos and a quick and easy format so that you can make them your own.  Take a look at the Case to extinguish the words Good and Bad or the 3 Minute Guide to the Bill of Rights.  You can even get professional animators to visualize your concepts. 

The SCAN tool at TregoED, which helps students learn how to see different perspectives and a write argumentatively, has a library of scenarios with built in problems to solve based on historical or current events for online discussions using the SCAN critical thinking strategy.   A great way to get them thinking and writing on hot topics.

Bottom line is that web 2.0 tools are by nature tools that we add content to and share!  Take advantage of the collaborative nature of these tools, read, revise and reshare!  It is a great way for all of us to ignite our classrooms.

How old is too old? Writing and Resources on Term Limits

Today’s headlines touted that Senator Lautenberg, 89, the oldest member of the US Senate has decided not to run for reelection.  Really, at 89?  The Pope stepped down last week, at age 85, because he thought he might not have the stamina to do the job.   Suffice it to say that neither Congress nor the Vatican have term limits.  Should they?  I remember the minute I stepped into my classroom at the Middle School at the ripe old age of 23, the kids look at me as if I was old!  Now, the staff does.  I know that when budget time calls for RIF’s, some of our younger teachers would love to see term limits!  I have to say that the latter half of your career is prime time for learning and implementing new ideas.  There is something to be said for knowing the nuts and bolts of the job so you can spend your time finessing your skills and learning new ones.  But I digress….

The Term Limit Debate

When our Constitution was first written, there was no mention of term limits.  The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, restricted Presidential terms to a maximum of two terms.   Only one President, Roosevelt, served more than two terms.  

History, Civics, Language Arts and the Common Core

President’s Day is a great time to look at the debate on term limits.  The Common Core standards call for students to examine multiple perspectives and analyze points of view.  Why not have students analyze evidence (pros and cons) from multiple texts and synthesize their own thoughts on term limits?  Seems like a great way to integrate social studies and language arts while developing key critical thinking skills.

Start your students with this recent Gallop Poll  or article from USA Today that states that most Americans would like see term limits.  Have your students read about the pros and cons of term limits from various sources, write an argumentative essay, blog or speech and then finish by having them take a poll using one of several simple polling tools available online.  

Resources:

Your students can look at some of these resources for different perspectives:

Pros and Cons of term limits by debate.org

 Do you believe in Term Limits? Political Debates and Polls

Debate:  Term Limits for Elected Representatives  from Debatepedia

The Term Limit Debate from About.com

Give them a strategy

Just like a graphic organizer helps your students organize their writing, critical thinking strategies can help them organize their thinking.  Looking at term limits from different perspectives gives students the opportunity to practice SCAN:

See the issues:  What are the important issues, both pro and con from your perspective?

Clarify the issues:  What do you mean by…..?

Ask what’s most important:  Which issues are most important in terms of seriousness or urgency?

Now, what should be done? :  What do you think is the best solution to resolve the issues?  Remind students that solutions do not always have to be pro or con, they can be hybrids of the best ideas suggested.  The SCAN tool and resources at TregoED.org can help you get them started.

Extensions

As we celebrate President’s Day having students practice good citizenship by participating in civil discourse around an authentic issue is a great way to get integrate civics and argumentative writing.  Check out Teachers’ Hub to find more Presidential Writing Prompts and Top 12 President Day Activities

Writing to Change People's Minds

Twas 2 days before Winter Break and all through the class……

Usually this time of year there are so many distractions that it is hard to believe that there is any meaningful teaching/learning going on.  This year it seems especially true, we have students who are wound up for the holidays, terrified that it is the end of the world and still reeling from the effects of the Newtown tragedy and Super Storm Sandy (no relation).

Is it any wonder that teachers would just love to plug in a movie or phone in a lesson?  In fact the opposite is true, now is the time that teachers reach into their bags of tricks and work to provide the most engaging lessons of the year.  I happened to be invited to just such a lesson yesterday in Joe Pizzo’s ILA class in the Black River Middle School in Chester, NJ were students were actively engaged and excited to learn.

Joe’s students were starting a new unit on persuasion (Imagine that!  Before a vacation!).  He invited advertising and media producer Mr. Rea, a parent, to come and show students how ads were created and how they are written to “change people’s minds.”  What a great lesson!  The students were all fascinated and had so many great insights regarding each of the commercials he showed.  We were all riveted as Mr. Rea explained the production of commercials for Volvo (seen in the Superbowl!) and Coppertone (filmed in Costa Rico!) and dissected the components used to appeal to their intended audience.   The students were highly engaged in the activity, peppering Mr. Rea with questions and observations.  He demonstrated how company’s ad campaigns range on the “rational” to “emotional” spectrum  and how the components of the commercial – images, music, script, etc all contribute.  Of course, Mr. Pizzo expertly tied in all of these aspects with the components necessary to write a good persuasive essay.  Students will begin their practice of these principles as they create their own 60 second commercial for their newly assigned free choice reading.  I could tell that they were inspired and their minds were reeling over the possibilities.  This “book report” was now building persuasive writing skills, integrating technology, connecting career opportunities and had captured student’s imaginations.  I cannot think of a more powerful, relevant and authentic way to teach students how to develop the “power of persuasion” than to tie in the everyday media whose job it is to “change people’s minds.”  Using a member of the community to teach it?  Priceless.

Great Resources on Women's Voting Rights

We have heard a lot of talk about the power of the women’s vote in this election.  Candidates are making sure that they address issues that are important to women to earn their vote.  It is hard to believe that women were amongst the last to earn the right to vote in the US.  Looking at the suffrage movement gives students the opportunity to understand the different perspectives of the times and look at the current issues surrounding the Voting Rights ACT.

Here are some great resources, links and lesson plans that can tie past and present issues surrounding voting rights:

The Woodrow Wilson Library has lesson plans that include everything from essential questions to assessments.  Lots of links to primary documents included!

Scholastic has some great lesson plans for different age groups, grades 1-2, 4-5, 6-8 with resources and activities. 

Looking for primary documents?  Of course our National Archives has put together great lesson plans and resources in their Teaching with Documents site.

Mr. Donn’s web pages include links to lesson plans, games, and links to Powerpoints on women’s suffrage.

Tom Daccord’s site, Edtechteacher has a great collection of  Best History Sites on women’s history.

This great lesson plan from Edsitement on Pro-and Anti-Suffrage Arguments has students look at women’s suffrage issues from all different perspectives- The Founding Fathers, the family, African Americans, States Rights, husbands, etc.  Check out the other 3 great activities at this site with links to political cartoons, articles, fliers and other primary documents of the day.

Why not follow up this great lesson by letting students discuss the issues by role-playing different points of view using the online SCAN tool and having students decide what should be done.  Check out the free lesson on “Women's Voting Rights."

How is this relevant to today?

Tie these great topics in by looking at the recent discussion on the Voting Rights Act which requires states to get advance approval by the Federal Government before they can change the way they hold elections. 

Look at how women’s issues are affecting voting today.  If women were voting, what issues would become non-issues?

Connect to women’s rights headlines from around the world by looking at the recent shooting of a 14 year old Pakistani girl by the Taliban for championing the education of girls and publicizing atrocities committed by the Taliban.

Do you have any favorite resources or activities to help our students appreciate voting rights?