The Amazing 2013 Vultures Rock Competition

The Halloween Vultures Rock Poetry Competition is open once more for entries. This competition focuses on the plight of vultures, whose numbers are dropping around the world mainly because people know so little about them and why they need to be protected.  To honor the job that vultures do in cleaning up our world, children, ages 8-12, are invited to submit original poems that describe how they think vulture’s rock. Poems, which do not have to rhyme, are to be submitted to the Vultures Rock website by October 18^th, 2013. Winners will receive iPod Shuffles.

The competition is an excellent way to help students learn about the importance of vultures in our world and celebrate the fall season. Be sure to check the rules for entry on the site.

Hispanic Heritage Essay Competition

Students in Middle and High School in the CableVision region of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut may enter the 2013 Hispanic Heritage Essay Competition. By writing an essay of 500 words or less, students have the chance to win a $2,500 scholarship, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a Kindle Fire. Students must submit original essay on the topic, “Name a Latino, past or present, with whom you would choose to spend a day and explain why.”  Submissions are due by November 1, 2013 and must be submitted online. Rules and entry forms are available on the site.

Storia: A Scholastic Reading Experience

Scholastic’s Storia is a place for your students to find over 2000 eBooks to read at home and at school. There are Read-to-Me books with highlighted text; Enriched eBooks that tackle topics in mathematics, science, geography, and history; reference tools and a dictionary; books with puzzles and quizzes; personal bookshelves; and tools for teachers. Many Scholastic favorites and classics are part of the Storia list, which is divided into categories according to Age (2 to 13 and up), Product Type (eBooks, Enriched eBooks, Read-to-Me Books, Reading Challenge, ePacks, eCollections), Reading Level, Grade Level (Pre-K to 8 and Teen), and Character & Series (Clifford, Harry Potter, Magic School Bus, etc.). Prices vary according to the book or pack selected. The eBooks may be used on iPad, Kindle Fire, Android devices, and Windows PCs. A Mac version will be out soon.

Moving Students Ahead in STEM Subjects

Students entering Deptford High School and many other high schools throughout the nation can select a program that includes college-level courses in engineering, robotics, and Computer-Aided Design. The Deptford program will follow the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) curriculum, which is now used in schools in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.  The PLTW program considers classrooms as innovation zones where hands-on learning and critical thinking take place.

iTunes Virtual Field Trips

Open new worlds of knowledge by going to iTunes Virtual Field Trips. There, you’ll find “trips” to museums, historic sites, historic site apps, National Parks, National Parks apps, Libraries, Library apps, Performing Arts, and Performing Arts apps. There are Mummy Chamber videos from the Brooklyn Museum, Musee du Louvre HD app ($2.99), Beyond New York Sight (audio, Manhattan), Garden Grounds New York Botanical Garden (free, audio/video), Guggenheim app (free), Smithsonian Mobile app (free), National Parks by National Geographic app (free), Treasures of the New York Public Library (audio), Today’s Document from the National Archives app (free), MoMA Audio: Kids (free), A Jazzy Day: Music Education Book for Kids app ($4.99), and much more. By the way, A Jazzy Day has garnered great reviews.

Kick Start Your SchoolYear by iTunes

The iTunes Store has compiled an extensive list of apps that will help you and your students become better organized and productive, in addition to increasing knowledge.  Included are reading and writing apps for all ages, apps for organization, and apps for math, science, history, geography, and art and creativity. So—as the new school year is about to begin, you’ll want to browse through the offerings (free and for-pay) in the Kick Start for the School Year section of iTunes.

Free Scholastic Reading Timer

It’s often difficult to turn students on to reading. When parents tell me they can’t get their children to read, I often suggest that they require their children to read as much as they play video games or watch television. A new app from Scholastic may help as well. It tracks children’s reading minutes, provides a weekly log, and offers book lists, tips, and articles about children and reading for parents.  The Timer motivates children to have fun reading every day.

The Scholastic Reading Timer app works with iPod Touch, iPad, iPhone, Android devices, and Windows phones.

The Teenage Brain

WKCD (What Kids Can Do) includes information on how our students learn. Research shows us why teens act the way they do with behaviors such as “mood swings, surliness, impulsivity, poor decisions, insensitivity (or too much sensitivity), and more.” The brain’s frontal lobe, the area that affects judgment, is not fully developed until ages 25-30. As the brain grows, young people have difficulty making decisions quickly, don’t notice errors in judgment, have trouble identifying other’s emotions, and are “vulnerable to stress.” So—it’s good for all of us in education to remember that there is a biological reason for why teens are the way they are and that we need to be patient as we wait for their minds to mature.

Target Field Trip Grants

Target Field Trip Grants for Grades K-12 offer up to $700 to support opportunities for children outside the classroom. The application window is August 1 to September 30^th. Applications for Field Trip grants will only be available during this time period.  

You’ll want to check the Target site for other grants (Early Childhood; Foundation; Arts, Culture & Design grants,) as well. Different grants are available for application at different times throughout the school year.

StraightAce: English, Writing & Mathematics

StraightAce Learning, by Benesse, provides a review of mathematics, writing, and English (grammar and vocabulary) topics for Middle School level students and encourages students toward positive study habits. The programs can be used on computers and with mobile devices as long as there is Internet access. When using StraightAce, students are given “targeted” practice that is fun to use and supplementary to the regular curriculum. Teachers can track student progress as their students move through programs that feature hundreds of topics (105 in writing, 450 in math, and 105 in English) and thousands of assessment questions (1,050 in English, 4,500 in math, and 1,050 in writing).