6th grade archaeologists

Our 6th grade students at Adams Middle School!!!  Thanks Mrs. Isom and Mrs. States you are awesome!!!

Resources and such…

The following is a list of sites that have been shared with me over the past several days.  Generally, you will see all kinds of findings in my Delicious links on the top right hand side of this blog.  Enjoy!

What to read?

Library Thing Suggest

What Should I Read Next?

BookLamp

WhichBook?

Math

That Quiz Math Test Activities (Science & Geography too!)

Social Studies/Current Events

Know Thy Congressman

NewsMap

National Geographic Little Kids

Science/Health

NSF Scrub Club

iSpecies

Digital Citizenship

Creative Thinking Home

World Languages

Foreign Internet Radio

Virtual Field Trips (All Subjects)

SimpleK12

Science Daily Articles…

The following are two interesting articles from Science Daily:

Music Education Can Help Children Improve Reading Skills

Social Skills, Extracurricular Activities In High School Pay Off Later In Life

As educators we already know this, but it is always good to have research to help back it up!

“No Future Left Behind”

In February I had the opportunity (I took the opportunity and it is there for the taking!) to complete the Quest Atlantis professional development.  The following video produced by Suffern Middle School students utilizes several clips from QA, Second Life, etc. to drive home a very important point!  Enjoy and do!

Read this: “Writing in the 21st Century”

Chazzo’s Reading Project

My year 7 son Charlie created the following short film for his assignment on the book The Outsiders:

Middle School HAL student blogs…

The following are links to our HAL student’s blogs. They are off to a great start. I really enjoy working with these wonderful people. I am proud of their efforts. Click, read, enjoy, and after you give them a glance, please respond to our poll!!!

We are using Edublogs as our blogging engine, and it is quite easy to set up student accounts, administer them, and moderate at the teacher level.  Edublogs utilizes WordPress and has many of its features available to students and educators.

http://hal6alexise.edublogs.org

http://hal6alexr.edublogs.org

http://hal6annb.edublogs.org

http://hal6austinl.edublogs.org

http://hal6brandenh.edublogs.org

http://hal6garrettk.edublogs.org

http://hal6logano.edublogs.org

http://hal6myrissan.edublogs.org

http://hal6nathanm.edublogs.org

http://hal6sarahf.edublogs.org

http://hal7alecw.edublogs.org

http://hal7alexise.edublogs.org

http://hal7andrewp.edublogs.org

http://hal7blaket.edublogs.org

http://hal7bryannas.edublogs.org

http://hal7catelynl.edublogs.org

http://hal7charlieh.edublogs.org

http://hal7connerc.edublogs.org

http://hal7graysonf.edublogs.org

http://hal7greggn.edublogs.org

http://hal7hayleys.edublogs.org

http://hal7ianb.edublogs.org

http://hal7kaylar.edublogs.org

http://hal7kristenw.edublogs.org

http://hal7laurac.edublogs.org

http://hal7lilyw.edublogs.org

http://hal7maddief.edublogs.org

http://hal7manuelm.edublogs.org

http://hal7mckennam.edublogs.org

http://hal7megans.edublogs.org

http://hal7mikar.edublogs.org

http://hal7sloanew.edublogs.org

http://hal7timothyd.edublogs.org

http://hal7vincentg.edublogs.org

http://hal8aceh.edublogs.org

http://hal8cameronb.edublogs.org

http://hal8elysek.edublogs.org

http://hal8ettam.edublogs.org

http://hal8jessicab.edublogs.org

http://hal8kyliew.edublogs.org

http://hal8loganne.edublogs.org

http://hal8marcusm.edublogs.org

http://hal8mattd.edublogs.org

http://hal8michaelo.edublogs.org

http://hal8samb.edublogs.org

http://hal8sarahe.edublogs.org

http://hal8shaylenes.edublogs.org

http://hal8tessb.edublogs.org

http://hal8tomb.edublogs.org

http://hal8tylera.edublogs.org

HAL Photo Story Projects…

I have the opportunity to work with the HAL (High Ability Learner) middle school students this year.  The following is our quick foray into using Photo Story as a technology tool for the Biz World program.  In the future, students will utilize technology to help build their companies and to create products such as ads and commercials.

7th Grade Photo Story Projects:  About Me!!!

6th & 8th Grade Photo Story Projects:  About Me!!!

Mathtrain.TV

See Eric Marcos student’s generated math tutorials at Mathtrain.TV (The link seems to be down for now; so, try this feed link to view the tutorials: Mathtrain.com with Mr. Marcos!!!

Digital Storytelling at My House…

My son Charlie created a claymation video yesterday. You can visit his blog to leave a comment about his project. I think it’s pretty good for a first time go at claymation; so, let him know what you think.

Charlie’s Blog: http://chokanson.wordpress.com

Now That’s Talent!!!

My son Charlie and his good friend Wyatt!!!

Teach Programming K-12+ for FREE!!!

Carnegie Mellon University offers a FREE programming language along with teaching tools called Alice:

“Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a teaching tool for introductory computing. It uses 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface to facilitate a more engaging, less frustrating first programming experience.”

“Alice is a teaching tool designed as a revolutionary approach to teaching and learning introductory programming concepts. The Alice team has developed instructional materials to support students and teachers in using this new approach. Resources include textbooks, lessons, sample syllabuses, test banks, and more. Other authors have generously joined our efforts, creating additional textbooks.”

There are separate programs geared toward college, high school, and middle school students and can be downloaded for your use today! Another FREE good programming opportunity for younger students can be found via MIT’s Scratch. With these offerings combined a school district can offer programming opportunities K-12 at minimal cost!!!

Digital Storytelling…

I had four wonderful middle schoolers create a digital story in my presence the past few days. If the video below is blocked: click here to download and view!

Enjoy!!!

Also, the awesome first graders finished their slideshows!!! See the previous post for the updates!!!

Kidspiration Resources

Kidspiration is a wonderful program that boosts kids creativity! Here are some resources that can help you get started once you have the program (You can download a free trial from the Kidspiration site)!

Atomic Learning Tutorials

Mac

Kidspiration

Kidspiration 2

Windows

Kidspiration

Kidspiration 2

Adams Middle School 6th Grade Band

Adams Middle School Christmas Concert (6th Grade Band)