Dover’s Free Samples for National Pet Month

May is National Pet Month, and in celebration of pets, Dover is offering free samples of a book about Presidential Pets. Your students, for example, can enjoy learning about President Theodore Roosevelt and a pony in his son’s bedroom. Then there’s President John F. Kennedy who had a house full of animals including a rabbit “who could play the first few notes of the Star-Spangled Banner on a tiny trumpet.” On the Dover site, you’ll also find free samples, which are available from other pet coloring books.

ResourceShelf —Scouring the Web for the Best

The editors at the ResourceShelf search the Web to bring you the best resources available. Although not directed to K-12 education, the ResourceShelf’s newsletter and blog may be of use to you for your classroom. Some of the topics included are: search tools and sources, search-related news, and Web 2.0 and beyond. You can explore the whole unedited collection and postings that go back to 2001, and you can sign up to receive a weekly sample of posts and the “Resource of the Week”

Second Life in Education

ISTE on Second Life hosts many valuable sessions to keep us up with the latest in technologies for our classrooms. In February, 2011, the group hosted a four-week series about teaching with iPods and iPads.  To learn more about ISTE Second Life, watch the video, Computing in the Clouds and check out the information about Second Life in education.

Halloween Fun Resources & Free Samples Sent Weekly

If you’re on the lookout for Halloween activities and materials,
Dover Publications is always a good place to check for what you need.  The site will give you loads of ideas for Halloween activities with your class and also ideas for decorating your classroom. Maybe you’ll help your students draw Halloween pictures with the How to Draw Halloween Pictures booklet or plan Halloween party games with the Frightfully Fun Halloween Activity Book? Don’t forget to browse the Sample Pages and also sign up for the Free Sample Pages, which will be sent to you weekly through email.

Science Games from NOAA

  What fun! Don’t miss Water Life and more at NOAA’s science games. Treat your students to games that help them learn about environmental issues as they track problems faced by Loggerhead turtles, try their skill at the Trash Smash game, take on the Ocean Challenge Puzzle, go on a whale watch, match Alaska rockfish, identify different types of electrical charges from clouds, save beaches, and more.  Your students become Environauts as they work to prevent trash from taking over the planet and answer questions like, “Why do earthlings need trees as natural resources?”. The site also includes field guides and teacher material.

NBC Learn: What’s YOUR iCue

NBC Learn’s What’s Your iCue is a great way to get your students excited about history, current events, and science. Just have your students go to the NBC Learn main page and click on Play Now for What’s YOUR iCue. They’ll be greeted with videos (dating back to 1920) such as news about gorilla populations, presidents, the environment, countries, the auto industry—loads of current and historic news happenings. While on the NBC site, explore the thumbnail views of the NBC archives (videos that include primary sources, historic footage, images, mini-documentaries and text resources) that are available by subscription to schools and colleges. You can sign up for a 30-day free trial to have access to the full videos or simply browse (15 second previews) and search the videos as a guest. To download the videos, you must be a subscriber.

Cola-Cola Scholars Program Awards for High School Seniors

Seniors selected for the Coca-Cola Scholars awards receive achievement-based scholarships of up to $20,000. Each year 250 finalists are invited to Atlanta, Georgia for personal interviews where a National Selection Committee chooses 50 students to receive awards of $20,000 and 200 to receive $10,000. Applicants must be current U.S. high school students who are planning to pursue a degree at an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution and carry a minimum 3.0 GPA by the end of their junior year of high school.  Applications for this year are closed, but members of the Class of 2011 may submit applications between August 1 and October 31.

The Longfellow Ten: Online Learning & Fun

I had to smile when I looked at some of the stop-action videos on The Longfellow Ten site. Middle School humor. Middle School kids having fun with learning. The videos the kids make target topics such as Continental Drift, Dialog, Cell Mitosis, Evolution, Minerals, and Mood. I could tell the students making the videos were having a great time as they explored ways to explain academic terms and concepts through what are called “absurd stop-motion films”.  In a literary conflict episode, a claymation-type bird and a tree fight over acorns while dynamic background music enhances the video.  Some of the videos, like Hurricanes, are more like serious educational video. Students use clay, Legos  (check It’s a Rockman), yarn, and artwork to produce short videos that explain what they are learning in the classroom. You and your students can join THE LF10 project and make zany academic videos of your own.

Don’t Miss the Vulture Blog

When it comes to online learning, students love real-life adventures, and Princeton doctoral student Corrine Kendall is ready to introduce them to the world of and importance of vultures in Africa.  In her blog, you’ll find details of her summer research including beautiful photos of the people and animals of the Masai Mara. Think wildebeests, zebras, buffalos, gazelles, cheetahs, lions, rhinos, cobras, hippos, vultures….  Kendall is a field biologist working with the Peregrine Fund and Princeton University; she’s studying the behavior and community ecology of vultures and other scavengers. These birds play an important role in controlling disease as they act as the “garbage men” for the region.  Take your students on an adventure with Corrine Kendall, and they and you will learn about Black-backed Jackals and vultures taking turns at dinner, why vultures are endangered, and much more.

HotChalk Free Resources

HotChalk offers free materials for educators including a library of over 5000 resources, an online learning management system, and great ideas from other educators in HotChalk’s blogs and articles. You’ll want to read Shannon C’de Baca’s Resolutions, which has ideas and links about making teachers’ lives easier in 2010. You may be interested in Personal Finance for Educators, Tere Barbella’s Art Blog, Invisible Math, Merit Pay Discussions, One-to-One that Works, Teachable Moments, and so many more ideas in HotChalk’s columns, blogs, and special features.