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Discover resources and strategies for teaching core content areas. Explore tips, tools, and activities to enhance learning across all subjects.

Eight Children’s Books to Promote Girl Power in STEM

by Valerie Cox September 14, 2021

written by Valerie Cox

Encouraging girls to participate in STEM activities might seem daunting, but it can easily be done simply by reading books. Reading STEM books introduces girls to unique aspects of the STEM community and could encourage them to try STEM activities themselves. Whether reading to students after recess or reading to your daughter before bedtime, books are an ideal way to help promote STEM activities to girls.

1. “Mae Among the Stars” by Roda Ahmed

In “Mae Among the Stars,” readers will learn about pursuing their dreams even when others don’t agree. This book tells the story of Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the first African American female to travel in space. Young Mae is fascinated with space, but discovers her teacher and classmates don’t think she can become an astronaut. With her parent’s support, Mae becomes a doctor, engineer, and astronaut and achieves her childhood dream.

2. “How to Code a Rollercoaster” by Josh Funk

For fans of “How to Code a Sandcastle,” Pearl and Pascal are back and learning more about how coding works. But this time, they’re at an amusement park. As they enjoy the amusement park, Pearl and Pascal use coding to track their tokens and the amount of time they spend standing in line for rides. “How to Code a Rollercoaster” is a great introduction to the world of coding and teaches basic coding fundamentals and principles.

3. “Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge” by Rachel Dougherty

Girls will discover the engineering story behind the Brooklyn Bridge in this interesting read. As a young girl, Emily studied science and math and continued building her skills as she grew, even though many didn’t understand why. After her father-in-law died and her husband was injured after starting the planning and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, Emily’s skills were put to good use when she completed this project which became one of the world’s most iconic bridges.

4. “The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague” by Julia Finley Mosca

As part of the Amazing Scientists series, “The Girl With a Mind for Math” presents the story of Raye Montague. She was the creator of the first computer-generated draft of a U.S. naval ship and the Navy’s first female program manager of ships. Young Raye’s interest was sparked by visiting a submarine with her grandfather. Despite having to overcome both racial and gender discrimination, she became one of the Navy’s most-celebrated civilian employees.

5. “Boxitects” by Kim Smith

Not only does “Boxitects” introduce readers to architecture, but it also teaches the importance of teamwork. Meg is a “boxitect” who loves building and creating structures out of boxes. Her creations are always the best until a new student and fellow boxitect arrives at school. Meg and her new classmate must find a way to work together and use their architectural talents to win the contest.

6. “Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist” by Linda Skeers

“Dinosaur Lady” tells the story of Mary Anning who discovered dinosaur bones on an English beach and became the first paleontologist. Mary made many fossil discoveries throughout her career, and some of her discoveries were housed in places that she couldn’t access simply because she was a girl. Mary persevered and continued her paleontology journey even when most didn’t believe females should be members of the science community.

7. “The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid” by Jeanette Winter

After reading “The World Is Not a Rectangle,” girls will know the story of esteemed architect Zaha Hadid. Born in Iraq, young Zaha discovers a love for math and engineering, and after studying in London, she becomes an architect. Soon, people all over the world wanted her to design a structure for their city. Readers will follow Zaha’s life as she builds upon her love for math and engineering by designing renowned structures around the world.

8. “Hello Ruby: Journey Inside the Computer” by Linda Liukas

As part of the Hello Ruby series, “Journey Inside the Computer” teaches readers about the different components of a computer and how they operate. Ruby and Mouse discover the computer isn’t working, so they go inside it to find the missing Cursor. As they search for Cursor, they encounter other computer elements that help Ruby and Mouse learn how a computer works.

By reading books, girls are introduced to countless inspiring female STEM leaders as well as different aspects of STEM. Today, it might seem like just reading a book, but it could be the spark that ignites the interest of one of the next great female leaders in STEM.

Interested in learning more about STEM education? Check out TCEA’s self-paced STEM courses and certifications and other STEM and STEAM blog posts.

Valerie Cox is a contributing writer for LOC Scientific. She is passionate about helping children learn more about the science community and has written a number of articles on involving children more in STEM activities. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and volunteering in her local community.

September 14, 2021 0 comments

Educational Trends English Language Arts Reading (ELAR)

Find or Make Your Own Fun Font

by Dr. Bruce Ellis September 8, 2021

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

I know. You have probably already scheduled your whole week around September 8 because it is National Ampersand Day. Okay, maybe not. But, if you’re like me, you do enjoy collecting a good font or two…or two hundred. If fonts were tangible items, some might resort to saying that it’s hoarding. I prefer to call it being prepared. Isn’t that the Scout’s motto? Plus, you never know when you will need that perfect font, just crying out to be used, even if it’s only once a year. And, because of my affection for a good font, I thought I’d share with you some great sites that I use. I consider my search for fonts to be therapeutic. As a bonus, I’ll even share two sites where you can make your own font for free!

NOTE: Some font sites may have fonts that are inappropriate for students. Because of this, you may want to do the searching, downloading, and installing and let the students know the new fonts that you’ve made available to them.

Also, before we get into the font sites, here are directions on how to install fonts once you’ve downloaded them and unzipped them (if they were zipped).

Mac OS X: Double-click the font file > “Install font” button.
Windows 10/8/7/Vista: Right-click on the font files > “Install.”

Though you should be able to install up to a thousand different fonts on your Windows machine, it isn’t recommended. It will slow down your system since it has to load them all in memory when you are using the various software applications that use them. So keep that in mind as you discover new font gems.

DaFont

DaFont is one of my go-to favorites. Besides being very well organized and searchable, you can get a preview of what your text will look like in the various fonts available. This is great if you need a font to help with young students learning to print, a particular style to go with an upcoming thematic unit, or simply a font that has a beautiful letter “j.”

Here are a few fonts that you might like from DaFont (screenshots by author):

https://www.dafont.com/vryn-letterbox.font

https://www.dafont.com/google-emojis.font

https://www.dafont.com/among-us.font?fpp=200

https://www.dafont.com/caricature.font?fpp=200

1001 Fonts

1001 Fonts is one of my golden oldy font sites. With over 16,000 fonts to choose from, you are sure to find the perfect font here to meet any need. Plenty of choices and tags make it easy to track down exactly what you are looking for. As you are browsing, fonts with a red dollar sign are free for personal use, while those with a green dollar sign are free for commercial use. And, if you are like me and find too many that you like, be sure to create an account (which is free). Once you’ve done this, you can click the heart icon next to the fonts that you like to add them to your favorites collection. Going back and relocating a font that you saw previously can be like looking for a needle in a haystack, so this is a helpful feature.

Here are a few fonts that you might like from 1001 Fonts (screenshots by author):

https://www.1001fonts.com/waltograph-font.html

https://www.1001fonts.com/action-jackson-font.html

https://www.1001fonts.com/mister-dogy-font.html

https://www.1001fonts.com/grandmas-garden-font.html

https://www.1001fonts.com/gallaudet-font.html

Urban Fonts

Urban Fonts is the site to head to if you need to find a font quickly and don’t want to spend a lot of time scrolling. A handy list of categories will greet you to help you quickly narrow down what look you are going for. Besides the free fonts, be sure to check out their massive collection of free dingbats – it’s crazy (pun intended)! If you are working on flashcards, worksheets, or any other item that needs icons and images, this will definitely light your fire!

Here are a few fonts that you might like from Urban Fonts (screenshots by author):

https://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/SHO-CARD-CAPS.font

https://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/Kiss_Me_or_Not.font

https://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/Yahoo.font

Create Your Own Font

If you just can’t find the perfect font or dingbat, but you know what you are looking for, why not make it yourself? Two sites you can use to create your own font include FontStruct and Calligraphr. Creating your own font can be exciting (at least for some of us), but it may be much more involved than you realize. Think of it as a possible equivalent to choosing to make all the floral arrangements for your wedding instead of hiring a florist to do it all. Yeah.

FonSstruct

This one is very involved and detailed, but you can create your font for free. A letter is created by filling in each small square a particular way. That can be empowering to you or overwhelming, and you’ll know which within the first five minutes of working with it. It is easy to get the hang of it, but you are working on a somewhat microscopic level. If you like needlework, using FontStruct may feel similar to doing counted thread embroidery, or perhaps remind you of that time you laid tile in your house. Think of it as working on a mosaic, tedious but beautiful when you are done.

Before using FonStruct, sketch out what you think you want your alphabet to look like. How will different letters look recognizable but still carry the style, making them look like they are in the same font family? To make it easier, consider printing out a sheet of graph paper (like what’s available at Innovative Teaching Ideas) and working offline before you start the digital work.

Calligraphr

This is a freemium service. You will most likely find that the free account provides plenty of features. If you are an artist or fontographer-wannabe, then you may find that the pro features allow you to create the font you were born to share with the world. As you will see, Calligraphr is for folks with less patience. The gist of working with Calligraphr is that you print out a template, write or draw on it, take a picture of it (or scan it), and then upload it to their website. From there, Calligraphr will render your letters and create a font that you can download and use.

You can select various templates, but I recommend choosing the Minimal English Template. To make it easier, adjust the size of the template cells by dragging the slider to the right (as shown in the screenshot to the right). You’ll be able to create basic punctuation along with upper and lowercase letters. But, with any creativity, you can also create your own set of dingbats just by drawing a small image for each glyph or letter. I would highly recommend creating a dingbat cheat sheet. This is helpful whether you create your own dingbat font or just use a dingbat font that someone else created. I don’t claim to be a fontographer, but you can check out, Dabble Dabble Doo, a font that I created within just a few minutes.

So, how will you celebrate National Ampersand Day? Will you explore a new font site and add a few to your computer, or will you venture out and try your hand at making your own? Either way, we would love to hear from you! Let us know what your favorite font is and give a link to it so others can enjoy it as much as you do. Plus, if you decide to make your own font, share it in the comments and let us help you change the world…one font at a time.

September 8, 2021 3 comments

Educational Research Science

Interactive Science: How to Design Research-based Science Lessons

by Miguel Guhlin August 9, 2021

written by Miguel Guhlin

Recently, a school district administrator emailed me and asked, “If you were going to blend strategies that work into a science lesson, how would you do it?” That question really piqued my interest. Mixing instructional strategies that are proven to work with best practices in science teaching and learning sounds like a win/win. After much thinking, here’s how I would accomplish this, based on the research.

Step #1: Set Goals for the Science Lesson

Dr. John Almarode, who wrote Visible Learning for Science, suggests setting the following goals for science lessons. The goals are straightforward and represent a wonderful response to the question asked.

Get students interested in lifelong learning and science that works.
Give students more control over their own learning.
Build in ways to assess students to discover where they are, and then match strategies to what they need to learn.

The first goal is practical and makes learning relevant to the learner. The second ties into John Hattie’s strong belief in the need for students to be self-regulated learners, individuals who must have agency and ownership over their learning and are able to track their progress. In tracking their own growth towards learning targets, they can make decisions, which gives them voice and choice.

Step #2: Pre-Assess Student Learning

When determining what students already know about a topic or skill, you have to ask, “How do we pre-assess students where they are at?” This leads to the question, “What are some formative assessments we could use?” These assessments provide insights into where students may fall on the SOLO Taxonomy. SOLO stands for “Structure of Observed Learning Outcome.” This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned SOLO, as have many others.

Let’s revisit what SOLO Taxonomy offers:

SOLO illustrates the qualitative differences. It indicates the differences between student responses and their levels of understanding. It classifies outcomes, relying on complexity and understanding.

SOLO does this so that you can make a judgement on the quality of student responses to assessment tasks. It relies on five levels of understanding:

Prestructural: at this level the learner is missing the point

Unistructural: a response based on a single point.

Multistructural: a response with multiple unrelated points.

Relational: points presented in a logically related answer.

Extended abstract: demonstrating an abstract and deep understanding through unexpected extension.

This FutureLearn chart clarifies the levels:

science lesson

The Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy (Adapted from Biggs & Tang, 2011) as cited in source

The main benefit of the SOLO Taxonomy is that it gives you, as the teacher, a set of specific terms (e.g., Unistructural, Multistructural, Relational) that can describe a student’s level of understanding. This level of understanding pinpoints what strategies may work best for them as they more through the learning process.

For students who are unistructural, they are in the surface phase of learning. This means that you might rely on those types of strategies, which could include vocabulary programs, direct instruction, and/or flipped classroom.

For learners who are relational, in the deep learning phase, different strategies work best. These may include concept mapping, metacognition, and reflection.

Knowing where a child falls on the taxonomy helps identify their level of understanding. It also assists you in knowing what to do next and to set success criteria.

What Is Success Criteria?

This phrase involves students knowing and understanding the answer to a simple question. That is, “How will I know I have learned it?” It is sometimes expressed as a statement, “I’ll know I’ve got it if….” You may want to revisit COLOSO in this blog entry.

Step #3: Build Learning into the Science Lesson

Ready to start on lesson design? Let’s take a look at the process Dr. John Almarode elaborates on. I’ve included a few resources for each area. What would you add?

“Science education needs a mix of demonstrations, labs, and experiments. It also needs reading, writing, and discussing with other scientists,” says Almarode. To that end, the lesson process he describes looks like this:

a) Paired Demonstration and Writing Down Observations

Demonstration
Encourage students to write about what they observed

b) Clarifying Terms and Vocabulary

Discussion about vocabulary terms
Have students revise their writing using correct terms

c) Wrap-Up

Final wrap-up

One key point that jumped out at me?

Every lesson (surface, deep, transfer) needs to have a clearly articulated learning intention. That learning intention must connect to success criteria. Remember, that is “What am I learning?” (learning intention) and “How will I know I have learned it?” (success criteria).

That’s quite a jump. To help the process make more sense, I put this diagram together that captures my understanding. Don’t be afraid to share your version.

Get a copy of this image via Google Slides or via Diagrams.net (requires you to authorize Diagrams.net in Google Drive account).

As you can see from this diagram, there’s a lot going on. To complicate matters, I’ve included some additional tools and strategy suggestions. How would you approach lesson design in your classroom with these three steps?

Matching Process to Resources

To provide some support, please find some relevant resources organized by the step in the process. I’ve organized them into a meta-collection in Wakelet. Explore and have fun.

science lesson design
Access this Wakelet Meta-Collections online at https://tinyurl.com/stwscience

Feature Image Source

Photo by author.

August 9, 2021 0 comments

Content Areas Educational Research Google Tips and Tricks Online Tools and Apps Social-Emotional Learning

More Tips, Tricks, and Tech Tidbits

by Lori Gracey July 28, 2021

written by Lori Gracey

I’m back with another collection of odds and ends ideas that relate to technology. There’s one “oldie goldie” in this group, along with some new resources, tips, and tricks. Enjoy!

Teens, Tech, and Mental Health

A recent study of more than 430,000 10 to 15-year-olds from Oxford has found that there is no link between technology use and mental-health problems, including feelings of depression and suicidal tendencies. This contradicts a January 2021 study that stated that heavy social-media use wa s linked to negative well-being and self-esteem among teenagers. However, isolation during the pandemic has contributed to teens feeling more alone than ever before, something schools will need to address this fall as they return.

An Oldie Is Back!

Some of you may be old enough to remember the technology mainstay program in schools starting in 1984, Print Shop. If you were like me, you had not only the original desktop publishing program, but all of the accompanying clip art CDs and spent a lot of time happily creating and printing out banners, signs, certificates, and art work for bulletin boards. Well, try to stay calm, but the fabulous program is back and available free in your browser! Fans have recreated the Apple II version with some of its accompanying clip art. Your creations will appear as a PDF that can be saved and printed. Please note that the program is slow to load (as it was in 1984!), so be patient. Share this with your students to let them know how far the technology has come.

tips and tricks

Learn Anything

If you’d like the opportunity to become better at something you are interested in, be sure to check out Learn Anything. This website offers more than 50,000 free video guides called “jump ropes” from “knowledgeable and passionate creators” on a wide variety of topics. These step-by-step guides allow you to move at your own pace in the learning. And you can upload our own videos for others to peruse. It’s also available as a free app on Android and iOS.

I was interested in the “How to Draw a Hungry Caterpillar” jump rope. The learning was divided into six short segments that were clear and easy to understand. What do you want to learn today?

Search and Read Old Newspapers

Studying a primary source like a newspaper published at the time of a major event in history is a great tool for student learning. And the US News Map can help. With access via a strong search engine to more than 15 million newspaper pages published between 1789 and 1964, this is a treasure trove of information. You can search by topics (like slavery or statehood) or by year. Once you hit return, your search results show up as dots on a US map, allowing you to click into the ones you might be interested in. As you drill down, the newspaper pages are in PDF format and appear just as they did when they were published. Your search term is highlighted in pink.

This site does take a little bit to learn how to find exactly what you are looking for. I would encourage you to do a sample search first as a demonstration for your students and then have them work in small groups. A good first activity for them would be to simply all look at the same page from the same newspaper on the same day and year and note the interesting things they see there.

Hyperdocs Galore

If you love using interactive hyperdocs with your students for greater engagement and content mastery, then you must check out this HUGE collection. The Peterson website has hundreds, if not thousands, of hyperdocs ready for you to make a copy of and start using. If you go to the link above, you can see all of them listed in a very, very, VERY long list. But you can also access them by subject area in the categories across the top of the page (and then down the right-hand side). And you’ll find the CTRL-F shortcut very useful for searching for your topic on the page.

Better Than Blooms

The amazing educational expert Grant Wiggins offers this thought-provoking matrix to ensure that you are designing lessons that reach the highest levels of learning. He is not a fan of Bloom’s Taxonomy of action verbs as a method for teaching to the highest levels, but instead states that a more complex approach is required. (By the way, if you find this information from him interesting, take a look at his article on cognitive load theory, which he believed is the most important things for a teacher to know.)

tips and tricks

Take a Break

NPR has published their Joy Generator, a website that entices us to take a moment away from our stress-filled day and tap into more positive emotions. “Small doses of daily delight can shift our focus away from our worries and give more opportunity for joy to arise. You can read more about the science here.” A random video of joy-producing images appears each time you click on the “Click for Joy” button.

Airport Delays

The power of data is amazing. If you are tasked with picking up someone from the airport, you may find this collection handy. The Live Airport Delays Dashboard shows current delays in both arrivals and departures at every airport in the United States. And yes, it’s all live data. Because of everything that is included, again, you will need to spend a little time learning how to manipulate the system. But it’s well worth it! This is also a great project to show students on how data can be structured to provide greater meaning.

tips and tricks

Engaging ELA Activities with Google Docs

Eric Curts is back with some more tremendous resources, this time for ELA teachers in all grades. He offers six different activities using Google Docs that your students will love and that will help them become better readers and writers. These include activities involving highlighting, emojis, choose your own adventure stories, graphic organizers, and more. What makes these even more amazing is that he includes every possible resource for each of the lessons, meaning less work for you!

July 28, 2021 0 comments

Content Areas Good Teaching

The Power of Post-It Note Teaching

by Dr. Bruce Ellis July 14, 2021

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

As teachers, we all have Post-It notes in our desk drawers. If we are lucky, we have different sizes and colors. Typically we use them to jot down our to-do list to take care of during our planning period or write a quick note to leave on another teacher’s desk. But what if we make use of that small stack of paper to enhance our teaching? Here are some ideas and templates that you can use to do just that!

Make a copy of the template at https://bit.ly/postitnotetemplate

Printing Your Post-It Note Templates

Here is a great collection of templates that are perfect for teaching and learning and can be copied onto your Post-It notes. There is a full set of templates and some tips so that you don’t ruin your copier! (Don’t ask how I came to know some of these tips!) Be aware that your printer may make some adjustments when printing, so you’ll probably have to tweak the template some so that things line up. Once you get through that trial-and-error phase, you’ll be able to fly through. In the template slide deck, you have a base template page for 1⅞”x1⅞”, 2″x2″, 3″x3″, 4″x4″, and 4″x6″ Post-It notes. Keep in mind that your “paper” doesn’t have to be real Post-It Note brand. You should be able to easily tweak it to what you need.

Begin by printing the base template page for the size of note you want to use; I suggest actually printing several copies of that specific page. Then carefully place the sticky notes so that the sticky part is attached to the top of a note box on the page; this should keep it from getting jammed as it goes through the copier. This actually may be one time in which having a simpler, less complex copier/printer may be a benefit. Now that your sticky notes are stuck to the page, place them in one of the trays (I typically place mine in the pass-through tray). You’ll want to make sure that you have the printed pages with the sticky notes on it in the tray so that the top with the sticky end goes in head first. Locate the slide in the provided slide deck that has the note you want to use. You’ll probably want to duplicate the slide, delete all the images you don’t want to print, duplicate the image you do want print, and place a copy of the image on each square on the page. Now print just one copy of that slide. Be sure you are not printing in duplex mode and that you have selected the loaded tray.

Anticipate that the first few prints won’t be exact due to differences in copiers/printers, etc. You may need to move the notes over a bit to one side or another. If you need to edit the template, click on VIEW→Theme Builder. If you have downloaded the slide deck as a PowerPoint file, then you will go to VIEW→Slide Master. Edit the specific slide and then close the Theme Builder/Slide Master. Below is a brief tutorial on editing a slide in Theme Builder.

Teaching Ideas

Let’s take a look at some of the different images you can print on your Post-It notes and consider how we can use them. Feel free to make your own.

This mini-graphic organizer is great if your students are working with a progression of ideas or actions.
SCIENCE: Three cycles of an ecosystem, three stages of matter, life cycle of a grasshopper, taxonomy of an animal (phylum, class, order)
ELA: progression of a story (beginning, middle, end), components of an effective essay, three-act structure in narrative fiction
SOCIAL STUDIES: three steps of civil discourse, three consecutive leaders/presidents/rulers, three-step process of becoming a state
EXIT TICKET: one thing I learned → why it’s important → how it can apply to MY life

This graphic organizer is great if you have before/after, two parts, cause and effect, etc.
SCIENCE: write the molecular formula on one side and the structural formula on the other, trait and alleles
MATH: problem/solution, sketched geometric image and vocabulary or definition, multiplication fact and drawn representation
ELA: tone and mood of a particular chapter or book, setting and events of a particular chapter, synonym/antonym
SOCIAL STUDIES: push/pull factors, opposing viewpoints of a given topic, checks and balances of two branches of government
EXIT TICKET: main idea I learned today and question I still have, two important things I learned in today’s lesson, something I learned and how it applies to my life

The T-chart is a great way to organize your thoughts and content. A few ideas for using this graphic include:
ELA: name of a book with characters on one side and their traits on the other, listing facts and opinions in an article
SCIENCE: chemical change (items on one side before change and the corresponding results on the other), sink/float experiment results
SOCIAL STUDIES: evaluating the pros/cons of a topic, comparing two political leaders, then/now comparisons
EXIT TICKET: learning intention for the day with what I learned on one side and drawing or small sketchnote on the other side

There’s an App for That

If you have an iOS or Android device, you can capture student work on sticky notes by using the Post-It app. This free app even allows you to create digital sticky notes to add to the information already captured. Once you take a picture of the student responses on the sticky notes, you (and they) can rearrange them as needed. When done, you can share to PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, Dropbox, Trellow, Miro, and more. Just follow these three simple steps to get the most from the Post-It app:

Capture your notes – Have students write on the sticky notes as instructed. When done, have students add their sticky notes to a flat surface like a wall or desk; be sure that none are overlapping. Use your device to capture the information. If students have devices, they, too, can capture the information to work with.
Organize your thoughts – The app will automatically digitize each note. At this time, additional digital sticky notes can be added. Rearrange the digital notes by dragging them in clusters, rows/columns, groups, etc.
Share with everyone – Share your organized board with your team, the class, the world! For students with an IEP or a 504 plan, you can easily send an electronic copy to them.

Additional Post-It Note Graphics

Below are other graphics that you will find in the template slide deck. Let me know how you would use one with your students. Even if you don’t print out the graphic, students can easily fold and/or draw on the sticky note to create the image. Screenshots by the author.

July 14, 2021 7 comments

Social Studies

How to Learn about Other Countries with YouTube

by Andrew Roush July 8, 2021

written by Andrew Roush

Over the years, YouTube, the world’s most popular video-sharing site, has become a hub for more than just prank videos or cuddly creatures. Nowadays, there’s plenty of informative, documentary, and educational content. These videos range from tutorials on how to install a garbage disposal to in-depth history documentaries to primary sources like old films and newsreels.

Of course, any space on the internet that allows anyone to post means users should practice good digital literacy and have a sense of the creator of the video. And naturally, educators will always want to review and vet videos before sharing with their students.

With those considerations in mind, let’s explore how YouTube can help teachers and students understand countries outside of the United States, including daily life, historical information, cultural arts, and more.

Greetings (こんにちは) from Japan

North Americans living overseas can be a great video source, as many of the videos are in English and targeted at sharing foreign cultures with an American or Canadian audience.

The YouTube channel Paolo from Tokyo shares many videos about life and culture in Japan. The popular Day in the Life videos offer brief, entertaining insights on daily life in Japan.

Also from Japan, Life Where I’m From explores how kids and adults live, work, play, and eat, always working to share with the world by posing the question: What’s life like where you’re from?

Kids Teaching Kids

Young people love seeing how other kids experience the world; it’s one of the ways we grow as people. After a bit of digging and review, you can find useful videos on YouTube that feature children sharing their experience and culture with each other.

The Hiho Kids channel features the Show and Tell series, allowing kids to share their traditions and culture with each other. Above, students share their family’s heritage. Below, they share cultural traditions.

You can also look into the How Other Kids Live series from the channel Origins, which digs into questions like “How Easy Is It for Kids to Make Friends?”

Food Facts

Another great way to connect kids with their counterparts overseas? Food! An easy, engaging start would be exploring what school lunch is like in various countries. How does your cafeteria lunch stack up?

In this video from the UK’s Channel 4, kids sit down with a multicultural family for a meal, one of the best ways to connect with people.

What videos, shows, or other multimedia tools do you learn to share world cultures with your students? Let us know in the comments! And then think about how your students can share their culture with the world on You Tube!

July 8, 2021 0 comments

Content Areas Educational Trends Good Teaching

Free Virtual Reality Resources in YouTube

by Lori Gracey July 6, 2021

written by Lori Gracey

Virtual reality is becoming more useful and relevant in education today as the technology becomes easier to use. A lot of VR, however, can be pricey, which often doesn’t meet the needs of strapped districts. But there is a wealth of free virtual reality resources available in, of all places, YouTube. Let’s see how you can find them and what some of the best ones are.

What Is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality is “the experience that has been created by the computer to generate a new environment” (source). It can take us to places that we realistically cannot go like Mars or the human stomach or running with a cheetah and it’s a fabulous tool for the classroom. These will allow you to view content in 360°. You can learn more about augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality from Jamie Donally, the ed tech AR/VR/MR guru.

A Few Caveats

While YouTube has some amazing educational resources, there is also, if we are honest, a lot of trash to be found there, as well as material that is not appropriate for students of any age. So I recommend that you, the teacher, find and select the content that you want students to use and not send them out on a search for it.

Once you’ve found a video you want your students to see, copy the URL and then place it into ViewPure. ViewPure is a free tool that will remove all distracting comments and side-bar related videos, just showing the content that you want. You should know that some ads may still be played during your video; there’s no way to prevent that unfortunately. But ViewPure does cut out a lot of the clutter. The site is free and does not require registration. But they also offer a premium version for teachers and schools. To see the difference with ViewPure, look at the two videos below. The first one is directly from YouTube and the second one is with ViewPure.

virtual reality

The second caveat is that virtual reality can make some people a little “seasick.” So keep an eye on your students while they are watching the videos to make sure everyone is doing okay.

Maneuvering Inside a VR Video

It may take a minute or two for you to become accustomed to maneuvering around inside the virtual reality video. Each one will be a little bit different, but they all can be stopped and started by simply clicking somewhere inside the video itself. You can also click and drag around inside the video to look at different parts. Your students will master this much faster than you will!

Educational Virtual Reality Videos

To find the VR gems in YouTube, you can start by simply searching the site. Use “360 video” to begin with; that will show you both the good and the bad available. You can then refine your search by using the same search you previously used plus the terms of your needed content. So I did a search for VR about the human digestive system with “360 video human digestive system” and found 12 good videos for students to watch and learn from. While 12 may not seem like a lot, that is enough for my needs. If you just want to see a sampling of what’s available, try the search “360 video education.” This will give you lots of good videos to play and learn with.

Here are a few 360° videos that I recommend:

The Extraordinary Honey Bee
Explore the Solar System
How Much Bacteria Is in Your Body?
Remembering Pearl Harbor VR: Experience History
Expedition to the Heart of an Active Volcano
Explore the Ancient Acropolis in Athens
Introduction to the Animal Cell
Shakespeare (several different videos)
VR Walk on the Moon with NASA
What Happens Inside Your Body?
How Does a Child with Dyslexia Feel?
Legends of the Alamo
Through the Rainforest

More virtual reality videos are posted every day on YouTube, so the content will continue to grow and develop.

July 6, 2021 2 comments

Content Areas Online Tools and Apps

Free, Online Resources for Students

by Lori Gracey July 1, 2021

written by Lori Gracey

In our blog, we often share digital tools and websites for educators to use for teaching and learning. But today, I want to do something a little different. I want to share some great online resources for your students to use to master critical content, create an amazing presentation, or improve their tech skills.

Of course, you’ll probably have to share these with them so that they can begin using them. But that’s a great way to start off each week of school this next year with a New Tool of the Week! (And I won’t tell if you decide to use some of these resources for your own teaching and learning!)

Content Resources for Students

Learning About the Roman World – Check out this amazing and detailed resource for students studying Roman history or literature. ORBIS is the Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World. It’s goal is to simulate “movement along the principal routes of the Roman road network, the main navigable rivers, and hundreds of sea routes in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and coastal Atlantic, thereby reconstructing the duration and financial cost of travel in antiquity.” This is a resource that you share with your high school students working in pairs or small groups without showing them how to actually use it and let them make and then share their discoveries with the whole class.

Walk the Titanic As It Was – Want to see what the Titanic looked like before it sank? This Unreal Engine video will show you. While it does move pretty fast, it is an excellent resource for understanding the beauty of the ship and its design.

Understand Scale – Grasping the scale of our universe, from the very smallest atom to galaxies, can be a difficult concept for students. But Scale of the Universe 2 makes it easy. (Warning: You can spend a lot of time going down this rabbit hole!) After you click the Start button, the beautiful music beings to play and you are brought to a view at one meter. Slide the bar to the left to go in closer and to the right to expand your view. If you see an object that interests you, simply click on it for more information.

Survive the Century – Give your older students the power to see the consequences of our choices by playing this game. “Survive the Century is a branching narrative game about the political, environmental, and social choices humans will face between 2021 and 2100 as we adapt to the ravages of climate change. This game is a work of fiction, but it is informed by real science.” You act as a newspaper editor who can set what direction and stories the paper will emphasize. As you play, the game tracks things like conflict, temperature, and the economy that are impacted by your decisions. (Please note that this is a text-based game and does require quite a bit of reading to play. I would encourage your students to play in small groups.)

Skill Development Resources

Need a Free Teleprompter? – Presenting to an audience is a skill that students will need throughout their adult lives. But it’s something that takes a lot of practice before it can be mastered. One way to start is by using a teleprompter and a prepared script. TellyPrompt is a free Chrome extension that has you paste text into its editor window and click “Start Presenting.” You can adjust the display font size and the colors, making it easy for anyone to read.

student resources

Take Your Typing to the Next Level – While I keep hoping that audio dictation will be as fast and reliable as my typing, I’m afraid that I’ve been disappointed so far. And that’s why keyboarding will continue to be such a critical skill for our students. Keyma.sh is an online multiplayer typing game that allows typists from all around the world to compete against each other and find out who comes on top. Think competitive keyboarding! Students are ranked in a way similar to that of chess masters, earning points for accuracy and speed. If students just want to practice and then see how they did individually, no account is required and they can select to type quotes, from the dictionary, or random. But if they want to see how they fare against others around the world, they will need to create a free account using Google. This site is definitely for older students as it has chat rooms available.

Access Tutorials for Google Tools Inside the Tool – iorad, the Tutorial Builder is a fabulous Chrome extension for adults to use in creating short tool tutorials on anything they can see on their screen; what a time saver! But what really sets it apart for students is that, once the extension is installed, when students access any Google tool, they can also pull up already-crafted lessons on how to use it inside the tool itself. Need to know how to format a title in Google Docs? Simply select that tutorial and it will play step-by-step, reading the slides as you watch and learn.

student resources

Brainstorm Your Way to a Solution – Brainstorming is a great skill for students to master. And this free collaborative tool, Brainstormer, is one of the best I’ve used because it goes beyond just gathering a lot of ideas together. One student (or the teacher) creates a new session, identifies the problem to be solved, and shares the link with others. Next, everyone enters in as many ideas as they can on the topic. Finally, and this is the important step that is often left out of other brainstorming tools, they vote on their favorite ideas. In this way, they end up with a few great ideas to start implementing immediately. Brainstormer gives hints and tips along the way to help you better achieve good solutions and even allows you to set a timer for the brainstorming. No registration or account is required to use this resource.

I hope that you found at least one of these resources for students that will help in your content area or grade level this next school year!

July 1, 2021 0 comments

Coding/Computer Science Content Areas STEM/STEAM

How App Development Empowers Students

by Enyi Rosa Gomez, Guest Author June 28, 2021

written by Enyi Rosa Gomez, Guest Author

Math is not everyone’s favorite subject. My group of fifth graders, who are the creators, designers, and builders of a math app prototype, will say that math used to be one of their least-liked subjects. With concepts of design thinking in mind, they were presented with a community education problem: help other fifth-grade students review and recall math concepts. My students decided that the best way to support their fellow students was through app development that provided student-created resources such as examples, steps, and videos.

Ideate and Prototype

The students brainstormed and ideated the best ways to reach the needs of their audience by conducting surveys and organizing data. Their findings and personal experience led them to focus on four key topics: multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals. They started by organizing the layout of their app on notecards; each card represented a page on their app, essentially mapping out the architecture.

They considered things such as accessibility, user-friendliness, appearance, and style. Students’ primary resource for the content included in their app prototype was their math journal. Next, they reviewed their notes, examples, and practice problems to create the content that would help other fifth grade students through their app.

Most students decided to include videos, examples, pictures, and written steps, and some even included quizzes to ensure that their message was received. Students used the Develop in Swift app design workbook as a guide to building their prototype.

App Development with an iPad

The primary tool for creating their app prototype was an iPad. The Keynote app has all the necessary features to bring their ideas to life and make a presentation work precisely as an app would.

The best part about it is that they can collaborate on the same Keynote document in real time. They can insert videos, pictures, and other documents into their presentation. They use the mark-up tool and screen-record feature within the iPad to share examples and step-by-step explanations to solve sample math problems.

Additionally, iMovie is a very user-friendly app that students can use to edit their videos and make them more engaging by adding titles, images, and sound effects. Simon Pile’s book, Why Use Keynote in the Classroom (2019), supports these ideas by providing many valuable ways that the Keynote app can be used to augment and redefine learning.

The Learning Experience

Currently, students are still in the development process of their fifth-grade math app prototype. It has been a long process that they are fully invested in. We knew this would not be an easy task from the start, but the more time they spend building out each feature of their app, the more excited they are about the entire project.

Students are working in groups of three to four members; the level of collaboration that has progressed throughout each session has been tremendous. In the beginning, no one wanted to take the lead, no one wanted to voice their ideas, and no one wanted to oppose anyone’s decisions. As time progressed, that has changed entirely; the groups are in sync, they share thoughts and build on each others’ ideas. There is a sense of belonging that has become evident as time progresses. It is incredible to see.

The interactions with me as the facilitator have also progressed. In the beginning, they wanted approval for every decision they made. Now, they are confident in their choices as a team, they have a clear vision for what their audience needs from their app, and they are not afraid to go for it.

Lastly, each student’s confidence in practicing math concepts has grown immensely. By reviewing concepts to create videos, examples, and quizzes about the topics they struggled with, students have become masters in these areas. They have gained so much confidence and are now sharing new ways to solve problems. It has also enhanced their critical thinking skills.

App Showcase

The last step in their app prototype development will be their app showcase. Students will present their app prototype pitches to an audience of all fifth-grade students and teachers on our campus. This will be a way to engage students’ communication skills and provide them an opportunity to test out their app with the community for which it was intended.

Have you developed apps with your students? Share your ideas in the comments!

June 28, 2021 0 comments

Social Studies

Exploring Ancient Civilizations with Interactive Resources

by Andrew Roush June 24, 2021

written by Andrew Roush

Looking for resources to make geography or world history classes more accessible and interactive when you return to the classroom? Check out the resources below, which include games, texts, videos, and other digital resources for teaching about ancient civilizations, including the societies of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley civilization, and ancient China.

The Fertile Crescent: Ancient Mesopotamia

You can play like the ancients. The royal game of Ur, an ancient board game, has been studied well enough that we can still play it — even online. Play the game here, and learn more about the royal game in this video from the British Museum.
For a modern game designed to teach about the Fertile Crescent, try Excavate! This game lets grade 4–7 students take on the role of an archeologist exploring Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon.
Hone your archeological skills even further with this Pyramids and Ziggurats infographic from National Geographic.
For research-based projects and primary sources readings for older students, check out Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia, packed with relevant texts.
Learn how you and your students can make your own cylinder seals from the University of Chicago here.
Explore this interactive timeline and map with borders, water sources, and climate zones, called The Fertile Crescent – Where Past Meets Present.

The Indus Valley: The Indian Subcontinent

Get a sense of life in India’s earliest civilizations and its evolution through history with the interactive photo gallery, timeline, and more in this online companion to PBS’ Story of India.
The Asia Society provides this outline of the Indus Valley civilization and early India, providing detail for a place and time about which learning resources are sometimes scant.
One hallmark of the Indus Valley civilization, and one major source of understanding, is its art and physical culture. Check out these image-filled artifact timelines for two different eras of the Indus Valley societies here and here, from the Met museum.
Step into ancient India and Pakistan by reading about a day in the life of a baker’s son or exploring an interactive map of the Mohenjo-daro site here.
Go in-depth and learn about language and culture, watch videos, explore maps, and much more at Harappa, named for a site in modern Punjab, Pakistan.

Imperial Beginnings: Ancient China

Visualize Chinese history from the ancient Shang dynasty onward in this interactive map from TimeMaps.
Go all the way back to the foundations of Chinese society in prehistory and the Xia dynasty, alongside images and video, in this interactive timeline from PBS.
Get a great start to understanding the history of China with this resource article from National Geographic, which will scale the reading to various grade levels from 3–12.
Go up close with ancient Chinese art and literature with images, maps, and timelines from the World Digital Library. Learn more about the WDL here.
Looking for research aids for secondary students? Check out this extensive list of primary sources on ancient Chinese life, religion, philosophy, and more from Kansas University Libraries.

Content Areas

1. “Mae Among the Stars” by Roda Ahmed

2. “How to Code a Rollercoaster” by Josh Funk

3. “Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge” by Rachel Dougherty

4. “The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague” by Julia Finley Mosca

5. “Boxitects” by Kim Smith

6. “Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist” by Linda Skeers

7. “The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid” by Jeanette Winter

8. “Hello Ruby: Journey Inside the Computer” by Linda Liukas

DaFont

1001 Fonts

Urban Fonts

Create Your Own Font

Step #1: Set Goals for the Science Lesson

Step #2: Pre-Assess Student Learning

Step #3: Build Learning into the Science Lesson

Matching Process to Resources

Feature Image Source

Teens, Tech, and Mental Health

An Oldie Is Back!

Learn Anything

Search and Read Old Newspapers

Hyperdocs Galore

Better Than Blooms

Take a Break

Airport Delays

Engaging ELA Activities with Google Docs

Printing Your Post-It Note Templates

Teaching Ideas

There’s an App for That

Additional Post-It Note Graphics

Greetings (こんにちは) from Japan

Kids Teaching Kids

Food Facts

What Is Virtual Reality?

A Few Caveats

Maneuvering Inside a VR Video

Educational Virtual Reality Videos

Content Resources for Students

Skill Development Resources

Ideate and Prototype

App Development with an iPad

The Learning Experience

App Showcase

The Fertile Crescent: Ancient Mesopotamia

The Indus Valley: The Indian Subcontinent

Imperial Beginnings: Ancient China

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