Resource round-up: LessonWriter

Lessons created automatically from any reading passage...for free? Now that's a time saver worth further investigation. According to their website, "LessonWriter creates lesson plans and instructional materials for teaching English language skills from any reading passage."

Simply copy and paste the text of your choice into LessonWriter and select the skills you want to teach. LessonWriter then creates a lesson plan on vocabulary, grammar and usage, prononciation, and word roots and stems.

Here's a bit more about how LessonWriter helps teachers:

How LessonWriter helps teachers

• Save Time Create high-quality, standards-based lesson plans and teaching materials from text in about a minute.
• Be Creative Scripts, poems, articles, stories, and more. LessonWriter automatically creates lessons and materials from any text from any source. Choose different content to meet the interests and needs of individual groups of students while teaching the same English language skills to the entire class, or teach the same content but emphasize different skills and vocabulary for separate students.
• Accommodate Students LessonWriter generates suggestions for differentiating and implementing the lesson to individual students.
• Track Classes All lessons are permanently recorded for easy and reliable reporting.
• Design a Unit of Study Content and skills taught to each registered class are automatically tracked, and the next skills needed to systematically cover English Language Arts Learning Standards are recommended.

How LessonWriter Helps Students

• Spurs motivation by allowing teachers to choose relevant and engaging reading material.
• Customizes materials to make reading more manageable. LessonWriter can:
• Divide any text into shorter passages based on the number of vocabulary words in each passage.
• Pre-teach vocabulary where necessary.
• Ask comprehension questions throughout a reading to reinforce knowledge.
• Presents materials in a variety of diverse ways so no one ever feels left behind or held back.

How LessonWriter Helps Administrators

• Gives content-area teachers a tool to embed literacy and English language acquisition skills into any unit of study in any subject area.
• Ensures instructional quality by enabling teachers of any experience level to easily create complete lessons in a systematic and time-efficient manner.
• Helps English language learners and students with low-literacy levels handle text that might otherwise be too demanding.
• Tracks content and skills taught and recommends the subsequent instructional objectives needed to systematically cover English Language Arts Learning Standards.

Resource round-up: More grants

Education Week is another great source for grants, as well as current information on educational policy, trends, technology, jobs, and research. Search through their grant listings here.

Resource round-up: Free online lessons

SqoolTechs
Free resources for educators from preK through eighth grade.

• Gamequarium- Grades 3 though 8 learning games and interactive activities.
• Gamequarium Jr- Pre K -2 learning games and interactive activities.
• Gamequarium Math - Pre K - 8 learning games and interactive activities for Math
• Readquarium- Pre K - 8 learning games and interactive activities for reading
• Gamequarium Lab- collection of resources for use in computer lab settings
• SqoolTube.com - A directory of free instructional video.
• SqoolLibrary.com- A directory of free ebooks for kids.
• SqoolPrintables.com- A directory of free printable learning activities.
• TeacherClicks.com- A directory of free resources and tools for teachers.

Search through all of the above at Sqoolquarium.

HotChalk
According to their website:

HotChalk is a learning environment for K-12 teachers, students and parents that includes a learning management system (LMS), a rich library of teacher-contributed lesson plans, premium digital content like NBC News video, and professional development for teachers in a Web-based environment. Available through any Internet browser, the HotChalk Learning Environment is an easy to use system and brings teachers, students and parents together to improve education.

HotChalk includes The Lesson Plans Page with more than 3,500 free lessons in all subjects.

Edutopia
Check out the extensive Video Library with teaching tips, interviews, and mini-lessons.

A to Z Teacher Stuff
This teacher-created site offers "lesson plans, thematic units, teacher tips, discussion forums for teachers, downloadable teaching materials & eBooks, printable worksheets and blacklines, emergent reader books, themes, and more."

Google for Educators
Find videos, activities, posters, and an active online community at this popular site. You can also join the Google for Educators Discussion Group by clicking here.

Resource round-up and stimulus savings

We're all looking for ways to get or save money right now, and the educational sector is no exception. Maupin House recognizes that teachers need all the help they can get, so we'll be working even harder now to provide you with special offers, freebies, and great resources. Here's a fresh dose:

• Improving Literacy through School Libraries grant. This program helps LEAs improve reading achievement by providing students with increased access to up-to-date school library material, well-equipped, technologically advanced school library media centers, and professionally certified school library media specialists. Grants are awarded up to $500,000! Applications are due Friday, March 6 by 4:30 p.m. EST.
• Grants and Funding Alert. Stay up to date on even more educational grants with this twice-a-month e-mail resource from eSchool News. For just $35 annually, you'll get:
  
  1. all the new grant opportunities just announced from federal, state and local agencies, community and corporate foundations
  2. up-to-the minute overviews of federal funding resources with deadlines and amounts
  3. grant-giver profiles complete with names, titles, and contact links; you'll go directly to the funding source, saving you valuable time
• Freebies and special offers from Maupin House. Visit our website to download free teacher study guides for your favorite resources, request free Caught'ya sentences to improve students' grammar skills, subscribe to our e-newsletter and get special coupons, and learn about money-saving packages and sales. As always, call us at 800-524-0634 to see what slightly damaged books we have available at a 50% discount!
• New e-books on DedicatedTeacher.com. We are adding new e-books often, so check back regularly to see which titles you can download immediately and use today!
  

Some Valentine's Day poetry

Celebrate Valentine's Day with some heartwarming poetry from Brod Bagert. Here's his poem, "The Elements," from Steel Cables: The Poetry of Permanent Love.

This morning I splashed water on my face
And wondered if you were awake.
This afternoon I jogged in the park
And the aroma of fresh cut grass
That filled my head
Was a yearning for the smell of your skin.
This evening the sun was gold on the sky
And when I closed my eyes
Its touch was the warmth of your breath on my face.
It is always the same now,
Water…
Earth…
Air…
And you.

Great reviews from BookNews

Learning through Writing: Authentic Writing Activities for the Content Areas (Grade 4)
by Kathleen Kopp

Kopp, an elementary school curriculum specialist, provides 18 writing activities that teachers can use to help students in grade four learn language arts, math, science, social studies, and health and nutrition content, as well as a way for teachers to check students' understanding of these areas along with their language and writing skills. Activities include lesson plans, extensions, evaluation rubrics, worksheets, examples, lists of materials, and student prewriting, drafting, editing, and publishing suggestions. All activities are connected to national content-area and writing standards and reflect the grade-level appropriate language and writing skills in the CraftPlus Writing Program. There are also third-grade and fifth-grade books in the series. (©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8
by Carol Baldwin

This guide to teaching writing to students in grades four through eight provides mini-lessons on all aspects of the writing process, from the basic elements of a story to editing and revising. Sixteen new lessons are added to this edition, which connect technology with the writing process — using wikis, podcasts, and digital media, for example — and allow for more differentiation and personalization, in addition to expanding instruction. New activities have been added for the upper-elementary grades to reflect the increase in testing on the narrative in many states. The guide comes with a CD that contains about 70 transparency masters and reproducibles, along with 18 new student stories and a new how-to section on using technologies. No index is provided. Baldwin is a freelance writer who has developed the book from materials she has used in different classrooms. (©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Click here to visit BookNews online.

Student videos wanted

From eSchool News:

We want your submissions!

Want your students to earn valuable video-production experience--and a shot at national recognition for their efforts?

Check out eSN's newly launched Student Video Network!

eSchool News founded the Student Video Network (SVN) to give students across North America the chance to experience what it's like to be real news anchors and reporters. Were encouraging students to create and submit video samples that illustrate how they handle breaking news coverage. Simply click on the "Upload Video" tab to get started.

If you submit a sample video for the SVN, we ask that you choose two or three stories from the "Top News" section of our homepage and create a student newscast. To view actual examples of SVN productions, go to www.eSchoolNews.TV, and in the category box, select "Student Video Network."

Want your students to have the chance of being honored for their outstanding work?

Each month, eSchool News will announce the most-watched SVN video of the month, and every four months, we'll assemble a judging panel to choose the best video of the quarter. Judges will choose videos based on criteria such as relevancy, quality of content, and creativity.

Each quarter's winners could be invited to a major ed-tech event such as the annual National Education Computing Conference for an awards ceremony. During this ceremony, under this scenario, one of the four schools would be named "SVN News Team of the Year."

If you'd like your students to be a part of something BIG, check out the SVN.

Stories worth telling

Stop thinking about the economy, the budget, and the weather for one minute and warm up with these inspirational sites:

TEL.A.VISION. According to their website, creator George Johnson "wanted to use the multimedia appeal of television to make the world a better place for children." The program's goals of connecting children with their dreams, empowering kids to "share their stories and make their voices heard," creating a global community, providing "vision-focused activities for young people," and offering hope to underprivileged children might seem lofty, but there's no doubt they're important. Here are TEL.A.VISION's four steps for creating a Vision Video:

1. Identify up to 10 specific goals you have for yourself, your community or even the world. For instance, jot down where you want to go to college, what sports you’ll play, what your career will be, what inventions you’ll create, which diseases you’ll cure, what city you’ll live in, etc.
2. State each of your goals from above in the present tense, as though you’ve already achieved them. For example, instead of saying, “I hope to be a Pediatrician,” state, “I am a successful Pediatrician.”
3. Find photographs and imagery that correspond to each of your goals.
4. Choose music tracks that you find inspirational, emotional or other words that end in “-al” that would make a great soundtrack for your Vision Video.

Stories for Change is another inspiring site. It "aims to connect and extend the network of workshop facilitators and organizations that have come together in community-based digital storytelling workshops. The site provides a space for members and visitors to share their favorite curriculum ideas, post the stories they create, and engage in meaningful conversations around the stories they watch. The power of community digital storytelling workshops rests in their ability to inspire, connect, and incite action within and between local groups; the goal of Stories for Change is to further nurture that spirit online."

Most children love to share their stories, but providing the forum, the support, and a caring audience determines whether kids are simply sharing a story or making an impact. Visit the links above for more on these great programs, and be on the lookout for a new book from Nile Stanley and Brett Dillingham on working with K-8 students to write and perform stories. Developing Literacy through Storytelling, due out in May from Maupin House, lets teachers focus on national literacy standards while building students' confidence and engaging them with rich stories and fun lessons. For more on the magic of performance literacy, including video clips, teaching tips, and digital poetry information, visit the Nile Crocodile site.

Doodle for Google

Attention all K-12 students, teachers, and Google lovers!

From the Google Teacher Newsletter

The Doodle 4 Google competition invites K-12 students to play around with our homepage logo and see what new designs emerge. This year we're inviting U.S. kids to join in the doodling fun, around the intriguing theme "What I Wish for the World."As we mentioned, these are exciting times, and both our country and the world are on the brink of significant change. At Google we believe in thinking big, and dreaming big, and we can't think of anything more important than encouraging students to do the same. This year, we're honored to be partnering with the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for the competition as we hope to encourage the next generation of designers and artists.

Registration closes on March 17, 2009 and entries are due by March 31, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. Teachers, you'll find everything you need to get started at the official website http://www.google.com/doodle4google. Only teachers or school employees should register. Parents or students who are interested should contact their teacher to register them.