Summer of 2009

Follow my travels to Australia. Check out http://mountaintoptechie.blogspot.com/

We Didn't Start the Fire

This short history of the US is set to Billy Joel's song We Didn't Start the Fire. 4+ minutes of memories put to music is fun to watch!

Great Source i Write

The link takes you to the Grammar Handbook where you can view mini-lessons in video format however take some time to look through this site for lots of writing help. WOW!!

Night at the Museum

Mark Moore, WVDE consultant for Thinkfinity, has found some resources for Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian which opened this weekend in theaters
across our region. Check out these resources brought to you by the
Smithsonian and Thinkfinity.

Wolfram Alpha

Over the past week, every blog I read has posted about Wolfram Alpha. "It's a computational knowledge engine: it generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links." Some bloggers have compared Wolfram Alpha to the computer on the Enterprise in Star Trek! This site has been on-line for a little over a week and it has already had 100 million searches! When you check this out, go to the example page to see the potential of use. The FAQs helps to understand this new site and gives a link to a video to get more info. Think about using Wolfram Alpha with students when completing research projects. Great info! Just for fun...type in Hello and see the response. Then type in Do you speak Spanish? Wolfram Alpha has a sense of humor!!

Target Grants

Field Trip Grants
The field trip grants are for next year and are due in August. The web site states: "Thousands of educators each year receive no-strings-attached funds to cover field trip-related expenses, such as transportation, ticket fees, resource materials and supplies."

Arts Grants
These grants are awarded to programs that bring the arts to schools or make the arts accessible to children and families.

Early Childhood Reading Grants
These grants support programs that foster a love of reading and encourage children, from birth through age 9, to read together with their families. I am considering this one for Family Reading Nights similar to Family Math!

Family Violence Prevention Grants
These grants support programs that strengthen families and communities by keeping them safe.

Kids Know It Network

Kid's Know It Network has some fantastic resources. Most recently I used it with 4th graders who were studying space. Click on Free Educational Movies on the left side and look to see what they offer. You'll find resources for all academic areas. Explore other areas of this site. There is plenty to use.