Students observe and collect data and contribute it to an international database. There is no cost to participate. Classes occur at various times throughout the year and are geared for different age groups.
Showing posts with label curriculum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curriculum. Show all posts
Citizen Scientist Projects for Grades K-12
There are some fabulous opportunities to teach math and science through hands-on projects at The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education.
Students observe and collect data and contribute it to an international database. There is no cost to participate. Classes occur at various times throughout the year and are geared for different age groups.
Students observe and collect data and contribute it to an international database. There is no cost to participate. Classes occur at various times throughout the year and are geared for different age groups.
Chinese New Year - Lesson Plan
Scholastic has a nice set of lesson plans for studying China and incorporating that into a celebration of Chinese New Year
Chinese Unit overview
Activities: The lesson plan calls for making a compass as an example of one invention. Another option would be to make an abacus out of beads and popsicle sticks or cardboard. Though I think I might prefer the more modern version that is base 10 to the authentic version which is more like base 15 in some ways.
Lesson 2: Story of silk
Chinese Unit overview
Lesson 1: So many inventions!
Book: Uses Ms. Frizzles Adventures in Imperial China by Joanna Cole.
Supplements: You can supplement this lesson with these websites describing Chinese inventions:
Chinese inventions from MiKids
Ancient Chinese Inventions
Chinese inventions from about.comActivities: The lesson plan calls for making a compass as an example of one invention. Another option would be to make an abacus out of beads and popsicle sticks or cardboard. Though I think I might prefer the more modern version that is base 10 to the authentic version which is more like base 15 in some ways.
Lesson 2: Story of silk
Book: Uses The Empress and the Silkworm by Lily Toy Hong
Activities: Sequencing cards for silk harvesting and pulling your own silk from a cocoon. You can purchase pre-dyed silk cocoons available for $5.95/10 in a variety of colors for the activity. These particular ones are cut so perhaps they are the "humane" type of silk harvest. You can also purchase the kinds where the pupa have been killed before they are able to emerge out of the cocoon and thereby making a hole and shortening the length of silk threads.
Lesson 3: Chinese New Year Celebration
Activities listed: Recipes, Banners, Signs, Puppets, Make lucky money envelopes, Learn to use Chopsticks, etc. One suggestion is to create good luck sign (The link on the scholastic page is not useful so you can try this link). To print more Chinese Characters click on this earlier post on Chinese Calligraphy books and resources. The link for making a dragon puppet is missing on the scholastic site so use this one.
More suggestions: Make an awesome paper machie dragon puppet from "That Artist Woman" blog. Visit activity village for a large array of Chinese New Year printables!
Free phonics and spelling lessons
Phonics Primer -- from National Right to Read Foundation
What are all the different sounds in the English language? In what order should the sounds be taught?
Decoding sounds for spelling and reading -- from The Phonics Page
What are the different ways to spell the same sounds? What is the likelihood that a certain sound (e.g. long a) is spelled a certain way (e.g. a, ay, eigh, ai) in the English language?
Free complete phonics lessons online -- from The Phonics Page
Uses quicktime player tutorials to teach sounds, rules, etc. and provide self-tests. While the actual lessons are non-sectarian, Biblical texts are read after each lesson, with newly learned syllables or words highlighted.
Comprehensive list of spelling rules -- from "Reading from Scratch" at Dyslexia.org
P.S. Check out another homeschooling journey with spelling and phonics and learning styles....
Teaching kids about earthquakes and tsunamis
We are all so saddened by the recent earthquake tragedy in Haiti. -- And it must be heartwrenching for those waiting to hear from loved ones.
From Red Cross: There has been an outpouring of support from the public. To help, people can make an unrestricted donation to the International Response Fund at www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767).
The public can also help by texting “Haiti” to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the Red Cross, through an effort backed by the U.S. State Department. Funds will go to support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
As a human community we will surely reflect on what we can do to help Haitians, including an awareness of their longstanding conditions of poverty.
Could such conditions left their physical infrastructure vulnerable? I've heard Haitian supporters talk about how Haiti was not built to within this kind of disaster.
Hopefully we will be thinking long and hard about the human and social aspects of this disaster, how to prevent this, and how to support Haitians.
In the face of tragedy we seek information to try to help make sense of things. While we might not be able to ever understand why such tragedies occur, we can try to learn and understand more about the physical aspects of hurricanes and tsunamis.
Here are some K-12 sites that use real-time data to learn about the natural disasters, locate them on maps, discover their causes and impacts and how to predict them.
A Study of Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics
A Study of the Large Unusual Waves
The public can also help by texting “Haiti” to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the Red Cross, through an effort backed by the U.S. State Department. Funds will go to support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
As a human community we will surely reflect on what we can do to help Haitians, including an awareness of their longstanding conditions of poverty.
Could such conditions left their physical infrastructure vulnerable? I've heard Haitian supporters talk about how Haiti was not built to within this kind of disaster.
Hopefully we will be thinking long and hard about the human and social aspects of this disaster, how to prevent this, and how to support Haitians.
In the face of tragedy we seek information to try to help make sense of things. While we might not be able to ever understand why such tragedies occur, we can try to learn and understand more about the physical aspects of hurricanes and tsunamis.
Here are some K-12 sites that use real-time data to learn about the natural disasters, locate them on maps, discover their causes and impacts and how to predict them.
A Study of Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics
A Study of the Large Unusual Waves
Curriculum resources for teaching kids Chinese Calligraphy
My 4 year old daughter re-discovered her bamboo writing instruments today as she rummaged through her "office" of craft supplies.
She then promptly declared she wanted to do "Chinese inking."
So we printed some tracer pages with Chinese characters for her. I watered down some washable tempra paint for the "ink" and she was happy to work on some chinese writing.
Teaching resources: There are more printables (and gobs of activities) available at Activity Village (UK) and at Circletime kids's world library along with lesson plans at Scholastic. Don't forget to celebrate Chinese New Year!
Children's story books referencing Chinese calligraphy:
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin - download free activity kit corresponding to the book and learn to write some of the Chinese characters related to the book
The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters by Christoph Niemann - uses stories and pictures to teach 33 Chinese characters
My Little Book of Chinese Words by Catherine Louis (Illustrator), Shi Bo (Illustrator), MaryChris Bradley (Translator) - introduction to context and meaning for the visual aspect of the characters
Hiss! Pop! Boom! Celebrating Chinese New Year by Tricia Morrissey - Chinese calligraphy are integrated into the illustrations
Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz, The Children's Museum Boston, and illustrated by Meilo So - includes activities for making prints and characters
More resources for learning to write and appreciate Chinese Calligraphy
Online Chinese Tools
She then promptly declared she wanted to do "Chinese inking."
So we printed some tracer pages with Chinese characters for her. I watered down some washable tempra paint for the "ink" and she was happy to work on some chinese writing.
Teaching resources: There are more printables (and gobs of activities) available at Activity Village (UK) and at Circletime kids's world library along with lesson plans at Scholastic. Don't forget to celebrate Chinese New Year!
Children's story books referencing Chinese calligraphy:
Round is a mooncake by Roseann Thong and illustrated by Grace Lin - pictures and references to "name chops" and "inking stones"
The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters by Christoph Niemann - uses stories and pictures to teach 33 Chinese characters
Henry's First Moon Birthday by Lenore Look and illustrated by Yumi Heo - explanations of characters and mishaps with ink!
More resources for learning to write and appreciate Chinese Calligraphy
Chinese Calligraphy : Learn the Beautiful Art of Chinese Writing (Troll Discovery Kit) by Alice Wong
Online Chinese Tools
Just for fun -- Get your own Chinese name and find your Chinese zodiac
Hands on science curriculum K-12 education
There are a variety of projects here at http://www.k12science.org/ for classrooms and home educators to use for hands on-science learning.
Some involve tracking real data online or sharing data from your backyard or school yard for real science projects.
These can be great projects for our distracted learners and kids who hate seatwork or need lots of physical activity.
Some involve tracking real data online or sharing data from your backyard or school yard for real science projects.
These can be great projects for our distracted learners and kids who hate seatwork or need lots of physical activity.
Learning the Natural Way with Math Games
Games for Learning Math, Logic and Strategy - This website has links to board games, internet games, books, and more for learning math in fun and naturally integrated ways
Games for teaching math with TLC - Here is a circles and stars game with dice to help practice addition and multiplication
Multiplication concept and tables games - A variety of math games, though many are for assessment/testing of the skill rather than acquiring the skill and would not be useful to the learner who is already frustrated.
Let's Play Math - This blog is about learning, teaching, and playing around with K-12 mathematics.
Digital technology for boys and other distracted learners
Here is a math website for kids in pre-K through 6th grade.
We have been enjoying using this website for tracking mastery of state standards for math curriculum at http://www.ixl.com/.
We have been enjoying using this website for tracking mastery of state standards for math curriculum at http://www.ixl.com/.It's interactive and self-correcting which is great for the "distracted learner." As educators are discovering, computer-based learning can be very useful for a wide range of learning styles.
It provides immediate reinforcement and virtual rewardsfor completing tasks -- much like the popular "Club Penguin" or "Build-a-Bearville."
Free K-12 Life Science lesson plans
One of the MSU grad students from the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology referred me to this K-12 Life Science project from Oregon State University. Thanks, Shannon!
There are lesson plans here for a variety of ages on these topics below. I was impressed how the lessons integrated multiple intelligences and multiple subjects in the science experiments.
Keeping kids on track with a visual "to do" list
Thanks so much to Nancy Peske over at SensorySmarts.com for another terrific newsletter with this great resource.
This online "Make-a-Schedule" program from the great folks at Do2Learn allows you to create daily schedules with picture cards for our kids (okay, and some of us parents) that need some extra help staying on track with the activities of the day!
It's also great for calming anxieties about what is going to happen next, transitioning to a new activity or preparing for the dreaded medical visits. The cards for those are great...
Chinese Language Resources
Michigan State University's Confucius Institute offers some free basic Chinese lessons and offers you a way to learn one new Chinese word or character a day!
Then of course there is the well-regarded Chinese Immersion pre-school through Lansing School District and Michigan State University as one of the Education for Global Citizenship Schools.
Free Civics Curriculum (middle and high school)
"Our Courts: 21st Century Civics is web-based education project designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active participants in our democracy. Our Courts is the vision of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is concerned that students are not getting the information and tools they need for civic participation, and that civics teachers need better materials and support."
There are games, lessons, and activities for middle and high school students as well as resources and opportunities for teachers, lawyers, parents, and citizens.
Free Curriculum and Resources from MSU
Junior Citizen Planning Curriculum (Grades 3 - 8) and more from Michigan State University. Tons of curricula and resources for land use, mapping, neighborhood surveys, environmental science, legislation etc.!
Learn nuclear science with marbles (Grades 7 - 12) or take a free tour (K-12) of the nationally famous National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University.
MSU Science Theatre peformances for a variety of ages and on numerous topics.
Database of website for online courses, educational games, software, tours and virtual learning from Michigan State University's searchable database of resources.
Learn nuclear science with marbles (Grades 7 - 12) or take a free tour (K-12) of the nationally famous National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University.
MSU Science Theatre peformances for a variety of ages and on numerous topics.
Database of website for online courses, educational games, software, tours and virtual learning from Michigan State University's searchable database of resources.
More curriculum for multiple intelligences
I continue to be amazed at the number of curriculum resources for homeschool (or other purposes) that are focused on Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences.
These types of curricula provide multiple ways of learning and using information to address a variety of learning styles and personalities.
I'm really intrigued by the Intellego curriculum resources. It looks like they are building an impressive array of unit studies to interest many different types of kids. Each unit includes art, writing, math, reading, etc. Check it out!
These types of curricula provide multiple ways of learning and using information to address a variety of learning styles and personalities.
I'm really intrigued by the Intellego curriculum resources. It looks like they are building an impressive array of unit studies to interest many different types of kids. Each unit includes art, writing, math, reading, etc. Check it out!
Homeschool Curriculum
We've been considering different curriculum options, trying to find the best fit for our family.
National Connections Academy
Calvert School
Christopherus Waldorf-Inspired Curriculum
Global Village School
And here's a free handy simple resource for the pre-K and Kindergarten crowd.
Brightly Beaming Early Childhood Curriculum and home of "Letter of the Week" Curriculum
National Connections Academy
Calvert School
Christopherus Waldorf-Inspired Curriculum
Global Village School
And here's a free handy simple resource for the pre-K and Kindergarten crowd.
Brightly Beaming Early Childhood Curriculum and home of "Letter of the Week" Curriculum
Free curriculum resources for homeschool or summer enrichment
*Links to free curriculum across various subjects here and here.
*Instructions and resources for free lapbooks.
*Free French lessons.
*Free elementary life science curriculum from Mister Q's lab.
*Instructions and resources for free lapbooks.
*Free French lessons.
*Free elementary life science curriculum from Mister Q's lab.
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