Nov 032011
 

A great new series for checking into various careers:

Travel and Tourism Careers

Creative and Media Careers

Sports and Leisure Careers

Retail Careers

Hospitality and Catering Careers

Health and Social Careers

(These titles can be found in the College and Career shelves near the computer room.)

 Intriguing new fiction titles:

 Wonderstruck by David Selznick– Drawings tell one story and text tells the other.  Two creative, wonderful stories.  From one of Mrs. Braeuler’s favorite authors. 

 Shadowcry by Jenna Burtenshaw– “A genuinely scary premise about what might happen is some people were born able to see through the veil between the living and the dead…deliciously shivery” (The Times – London)

The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin – A creepy castle with a strange labyrinth takes 14 year old Sunni and her step brother into intrigue

Queen of Hearts by Martha Brooks – Historical fiction centering on a girl and her two young siblings confined to a tuberculosis hospital in Canada during World War II.  Reviews call it “absolutely absorbing,” and “a moving portrait of hope.”

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin – Chocolate is banned, caffeine is illegal, the city is riddled with crime, and Anya is torn between accepting her birthright and following her heart. Set all around futuristic New York City.

Deep Zone by Tim Green – the bestselling sports fiction author brings another story.  “This 7 on 7 is more like 1 on 1.” (from the cover)   

Plus several engaging non-fiction titles hot off the 2011 presses!

Cesar Chavez: Crusader for Labor Rights

How to analyze the Works of Andy Warhol

The Cold War

The Holocaust

A Guy’s Guide – Game Face: Handling Sports on and Off the Field

A Guy’s Guide – Surviving School: Managing School and Career Paths

Mahatma Gandhi: Proponent of Peace

How to Analyze the Works of Georgia O’Keefe

Heroes Among Us – this work, autographed for Holy Cross students by journalist John Quinones chronicles the lives of several real life heroes.

Feb 012011
 

This DVD set can be used by classes other than World History.  Please look at the descriptions and make notes in your scopes and sequences.  For example, Art History would be interested in “Engineering and Empire: Da Vinci’s World” on disc 16.

AV DVD 909 WOR World History: Beginnings to the New World

Disc 1 Beginnings of Civilization

  • Ape Man: The Human Puzzle
  • Digging for the Truth: Kings of the Stone Age
  • In Search of History: The Fate of the Neanderthals
  • Ancient Discoveries: Riots and Revolution

Disc 2 The Chinese Empire

  • Engineering an Empire: China
  • Ancient China: Agriculture
  • Modern marvels: The Great Wall of China
  • Forbidden City: The Dynasty and Destiny

Disc 3 The Eastern World

  • Barbarians: Mongols
  • Ancients Behaving Badly: Genghis Khan

Disc 4 The Eastern World, cont.

  • Ottoman Empire: The War Machine
  • Warrior Empire: The Mughals

Disc 5 Russia/The Middle East

  • Engineering and Empire: Russia
  • In Search of History: The Romanovs
  • Engineering and Empire: Egypt

Disc 6 Russia/The Middle East, cont.

  • Engineering and Empire: The Persians
  • Secrets of the Koran Parts I & II

Disc 7 The Americas

  • Digging for the Truth: Stonehenge of the Americas
  • Engineering an Empire: The Maya: Death Empire
  • In Search of History: The Lost City of the Incas

Disc 8 The Americas, cont.

  • Ancient Mysteries: The Aztec Empire
  • Mexican-American War
  • Panama Canal

Disc 9 Greece

  • Engineering an Empire: Greece
  • The True Story of Hannibal

Disc 10 Greece, cont.

  • Ancient Mysteries: Odyssey of Troy
  • Lost Worlds: Athens: Supercity
  • Ancient Greece: Modern Ship Building
  • Battles BC: Alexander: Lord of War 

Disc 11 Rome

  • Ancient Mysteries: Pompeii: Buried Alive
  • Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire: Julius Caesar
  • The Great Empire Rome:  The Republic of Rome

Disc 12 Rome, cont.

  • Barbarians: The Huns
  • Barbarians: The Goths

Disc 13 The Rise of Christianity

  • The Rise of Christianity
  • The Dark Ages

Disc 14 The Byzantine Empire

  • Engineering an Empire: The Byzantines
  • Cities of the Underworld: Gods of War (Turkey)

Disc 15 The Middle Ages

  • The Crusades: Crescent & the Cross (Part I)
  • The Crusades: Crescent & the Cross (Part II)

Disc 16 The Renaissance

  • Scourge of the Black Death
  • Engineering and Empire: Da Vinci’s World
  • The Medici Assassination
  • Ancient Mysteries: The Borgias

Disc 17 Britain

  • Stonehenge Secrets Revealed
  • The Conquerors: William the Conqueror
  • Engineering an Empire: Britain: Blood and Steel

Disc 18 France

  • Joan of Arc: Virgin Warrior
  • Napoleon Bonaparte: The Glory of France
  • The French Revolution

Disc 19 Africa

  • Dr. Livingstone, I Presume?
  • Skeletons on the Sahara
  • Suez Canal: Then and Now

Disc 20 New World

  • Leif Ericson: Voyages of a Viking
  • Columbus: Explorer of the New World
  • Who Really Discovered America?
 Posted by at 9:02 pm
Nov 172010
 
 Posted by at 8:12 pm
Nov 162010
 

 Now Playing! GaggleTube

Do you want to use YouTube™ videos in your classroom? Does your district block access? The vast majority of school districts do use internet filters to prevent students and teachers from accessing YouTube, and with good reason. There is a lot of inappropriate content available on the site, and that content changes rapidly. In fact, every minute more than 24 hours of video is uploaded to the YouTube site.

But there is also a wealth of good information on YouTube, and many videos could be very beneficial in instruction at all grade levels and across all content areas. That’s where Gaggle comes in! Based on requests from educators, we developed GaggleTube, allowing searches of appropriate videos with an added layer of Gaggle safety, while still allowing the district to block direct access to the YouTube website.

Teachers can search and preview videos, tag or save them, and show them directly from Gaggle, full screen. Videos can also be embedded in blogs to promote discussions outside of the classroom. Students can be given their own version of GaggleTube, allowing them to view only videos approved by educators. And we’re developing an extension of the feature that will allow uploading to YouTube by teachers, or by students after teacher approval, so your kids can share their original creations with their peers and the world.

You’ll find the GaggleTube icon on your left panel, and student settings are on the lower section of the Advanced tab on the School Setup page. If you’d like to add the ability to upload videos, you’ll need a school YouTube account set up, which our customer service department will be happy to help you with. Keep in mind that no filtering system can catch everything all the time, so be sure you watch and listen to any video you might want to use before you show it to your class. And although you have the option to allow students to search filtered video on their own, you might want to reserve that for older students or special temporary projects.

With GaggleTube and a few minutes of previewing, the world of YouTube video can bring an exciting new dimension to your classroom!

 Posted by at 6:08 pm
Nov 012010
 

Go Graphic http://www.teachersfirst.com/organizers.cfm
Graphic organizers are a proven way to build comprehension and visually organize concepts. There are numerous tools to make them, places to download them, and ways to use them as part of a lesson or unit. TeachersFirst has a collection of over 150 resources for finding, making, or using graphic organizers. If this list is too long, you can also use a keyword search for (your topic or subject) AND graphic organizer to find new ideas. Now that first marking period grades have shown you which students need a bit more visual scaffolding for understanding, why not try using graphic organizers?

Free science and social studies videos that are online
http://pbskids.org/video/ search by topic

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/sn/shows.do
clips and full episodes

http://www.neok12.com/ just found this one…seems to have links to videos by subject

How stuff works http://videos.howstuffworks.com
Teacher tube www.teachertube.com
Youtube www.youtube.com
Snag Films www.snagfilms.com
Watchknow www.watchknow.org
A& E biography www.biography.com/video/index.jsp
Free Documentaries http://freedocumentaries.org/

Joyce Valenza has a wiki with lots of links to streaming video sites.
http://streamingvideo.wikispaces.com/

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/classroom/k-2/
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com
There are lots of live feeds from zoos all over the world of various animals they have on display. There’s a pretty complete list here: http://www.leonardsworlds.com/animals/zoo.htm

Here are some sites we have found:
http://whhhsmediacenter.wikispaces.com/Videos+Online-+FREE

 Posted by at 2:19 pm
Oct 262010
 

Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Presentation+Tools
This website has a wide range of tools you can use for your lessons, or as alternatives for your students’ reports.
Presentation Tools
Collaborative Tools
Research Tools
Video Tools
Slideshow Tools
Audio Tools
Image Tools
Drawing Tools
Writing Tools
Music Tools
Organising Tools
Converting Tools
Mapping Tools
Quiz and Poll Tools
Graphing Tools
Creativity Tools
Widgets
File Storage & Web Pages
Other Helpful Sites

I only checked a few of the presentation tools, but most are free and offer a school login. Do test the sites at school to ensure they aren’t blocked by our filters.

 Posted by at 1:43 pm