K12> Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2003
- From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: NetHappenings <nethappenings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2003 08:32:58 -0600
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Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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From: "Riverdeep" <Riverdeep@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 06:08:28 -0600 (CST)
THE CLASSROOM FLYER
>From RIVERDEEP: http://www.riverdeep.net
Wednesday Edition Focus: Grades 4-6
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2ND
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TITLE I AND RIVERDEEP . . .
More than 70% of America's school districts rely on
Riverdeep's instructional content and tools to achieve
MEASURABLE results!
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.D.JjLbWK
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1. TODAY IN HISTORY: The Year was 1805 . . .
Once Upon a Time, A Writing Lesson Plan.
2. RESEARCH AND RESOURCES: The Medical Uses of Insects.
3. ONLINE LEARNING: Alien Empire--Bee Anatomy.
Daily Assessment Tools; Teacher's Toolkit; Weekly
Spelling Program.
5. LESSON BANK: Create a Web of Life; A Teachers'
Guide to Using Insects in the Classroom; Insect Con-
dos; Insects A to Z; Spider Hunt.
6. EXPLORE: Electricity Experiments; Create an
Address Book in a Database; Stone Soup Spreadsheets.
7. TEACHER-TO-TEACHER: New Discussion Topic:
Does Neatness Still Count? Response to Online Ther mometers.
8. BY REQUEST . . .
MEDIEVAL WEBQUESTS: The Birth of the Early
Middle Ages; A Journey through the Middle Ages;
Middle Ages Webquest; Castle Discovery Webquest.
9. RIVERDEEP CATALOG REQUEST
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
- William Arthur Ward
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1. TODAY IN HISTORY
The Year was 1805 . . .
and famed fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen
was born today in Odense, Denmark. His own life was
much like a fairy tale and diffused his work with sim-
ilar themes, such as a poor unknown transforming into
a much-loved and respected celebrity, or the rediscov-
ery of an aristocratic background.
ONCE UPON A TIME:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.F.HPHBjF
This lesson plan for writing gives students the middle
of a relatively unknown fairy tale. Using the elements
of story and specifically of the fairy tale genre, stu-
dents will "work backwards" to recreate what came be-
fore the supplied text, and what came after.
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2. RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
MEDIEVAL MADNESS?
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.G.DbYSM
Got a wound? Take a pound of maggots and call the doc-
tor in the morning... Or how about staving off post-op-
erative bleeding dangers with a few thirsty leeches? It
just may well be the wave of the future, as modern med-
icine makes a bow to--shall we say, more natural--prac-
tices. The remedy is in the critter, as Riverdeep's "Bug
Medicine" reveals some startling developments in pro-
gressive medical practices. Students are sure to grim-
ace--and love it!
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3. ONLINE LEARNING
ALIEN EMPIRE -- BEE ANATOMY:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.H.J1JdXL
A very cool animation introduces students to bee ana-
tomy, with magnification of body parts, classification,
and buzzing bee music!
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4. PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES
DAILY ASSESSMENT TOOLS:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.J.HckFL7
This assessment package covers research skills and papers,
sentence starters, tools for reflection journals to chart
daily learning progress, and checkpoints and learning logs.
TEACHER'S TOOLKIT:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.K.Ygd41
Registration is required for this free online resource;
teachers are offered a toolkit for creating lesson plans,
finding resources to meet state standards, and creating
online slide shows as well.
WEEKLY SPELLING PROGRAM:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.L.JfXCd0
This sample weekly spelling program includes daily spell-
ing activities to practically address learning outcomes.
If your current spelling program just isn't working, con-
sider the well-designed plans offered here.
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5. LESSONS AND RESOURCES
CREATE A WEB OF LIFE:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.M.My5NHq
In a forceful demonstration using yarn and a circle of
students, a web is created based on a food chain, inclu-
ding insects and plants. Students immediately see how ev-
ery living form in the food chain is related. They will
venture further, observing how dropping one extinct or
endangered member from the chain actually affects all
other links on that system. Rubrics are included, along
with connections to language arts and math.
A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO USING INSECTS IN THE CLASSROOM:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.N.HWdDKn
So you have a unit on insects coming up... Here are stra-
tegies for best teaching practices with insects in the
classroom, from trapping and collecting specimens, to
background information, to form and function, develop-
ment, and classification. Experiment activities are al-
so included.
INSECT CONDOS:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.P.Hm3RPN
Designed as an observation, learning, and recording ex-
perience for fourth grade classes, students will create
an insect habitat with recycled materials. They must a-
dapt their habitats to match the specific niche and needs
of their organisms, applying problem-solving skills. A
further extension requires students to adapt these en-
vironments to multiple levels for several insects, sup-
plying food and water within an enclosed ecosystem.
INSECTS A TO Z:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.Q.NrZMrB
Here's a great little idea to have your students investi-
gate the wonderful world of creepy crawlies, by creating
an insect alphabet book. They will conduct online and
text research to find a suitable alphabet insect, illus-
trate and explain their insect's habitats, anatomy, food
preferences, etc., and then compile their results in a
book format. Be sure to share the results with younger
classes, and allow your students the opportunity to at-
tempt publication of their hard work.
SPIDER HUNT:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.R.GpH9Wk
Some people think they're pretty creepy, while others are
simply fascinated. It's spiders we're talking about, and
this lesson plan hunts them down for comparisons, con-
trasts, and classifications. Through close observation
and recording techniques, students will formulate a re-
port or presentation, focusing on different adaptations
of spiders and their survival techniques.
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6. EXPLORE
ELECTRICITY EXPERIMENTS:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.S.CQM5PV
Student worksheets and lab sheets are all included in
this resource for conducting electricity experiments
in the classroom. Teams will build batteries, electri-
city detectors, electromagnets, parallel circuits, and
series circuits. Instructions are clear and complete.
CREATE AN ADDRESS BOOK IN A DATABASE:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.T.Ht9QVT
These beginner database lessons teach students the basic
commands in building a database, as they build their files
with names, addresses, and phone numbers. They will create
headers and footers, learn to use the find command, and
adjust their fields.
STONE SOUP SPREADSHEETS:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.V.GkqW5P
Cooperation, math, and spreadsheets are all focuses of
this lesson plan. Students will create their own Stone
Soup, working together with ingredients and correct
measurements. They will then create a spreadsheet, both
doubling and tripling the measurements for a lesson in
fraction division and multiplication.
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7. TEACHER-TO-TEACHER
NEW DISCUSSION TOPIC:DOES NEATNESS STILL COUNT?
"Dear Classroom Flyer:
Since I have retired I have been doing supply teaching. It
bothers me that neatness and organizational skills when do-
ing notes seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur. I al-
ways felt that by placing the subject, date, unit number,
page, and question numbers on pages, and then neatly under-
lining with a colored pencil (using a ruler to keep lines
straight), we were helping students better organize them-
selves. It makes particular assignments easy to find and
eases studying for tests. We seem to be more concerned with
the content of the subjects and less with the neatness, qual-
ity, and written presentation of the notes. Somewhere there
should be a balance struck that will better help the chil-
dren learn quickly and efficiently."
R, V. Smith.
Send your responses to:
classroomflyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
RESPONSE TO ONLINE THERMOMETERS . . .
"These are two sites I found. They are a little difficult
because they don't have directions. If you play around with
them awhile, you can figure out how they work. Thanks for
such a great newsletter."
Debbie Vann
Science Specialist K-12
INTERACTIVE THERMOMETER:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.W.CR97xC
MIN/MAX THERMOMETER:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.X.JMc3gL
Send in your replies, comments, letters, and requests!
Write to: classroomflyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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8. BY REQUEST
MEDIEVAL WEBQUESTS . . .
"I am in need of internet scavenger hunts, webquests, and
virtual tours for my 6th grade students to use in studying
medieval times."
Karen Weaver
THE BIRTH OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES -- WEBQUEST:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.Y.PGXN3y
Political and societal developments in the Middle Ages be-
came the very foundations for ideas of individual rights
and capitalism. Learn about the importance of groups such
as knights, farmers, merchants, and of course priests. You
will be covering the fall of Rome, the emperor Charlemagne,
the church and the papacy, and William the Conqueror. Stu-
dents are expected to travel through eight guided quests,
resulting in written mini-reports and maps of the changing
European landscape.
AN INTERACTIVE JOURNEY THROUGH THE MIDDLE AGES:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.Z.GWNHNw
Though not a webquest per se, this interactive journey
through the Middle Ages offers excellent resource mater-
ial on all aspects of socio-cultural and political life in
Medieval times. An excellent student exercise to incorpor-
ate with this resource would be to have your class build
their own webquest, supported by the resources at this
site.
MIDDLE AGES WEBQUEST:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.0.MK9711
Merlin has traveled through time to locate missing items
from his kingdom. Your students must help him of course,
but first they must research exactly what they are looking
for--they must find the authentic items after all, and not
false or modern imitations. Students will work in teams to
conduct guided research and to create a slideshow presenta-
tion for their class.
CASTLE DISCOVERY WEBQUEST:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.1.LJph67
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.2.C30sC9
Beyond the romance and the movies, what do your students
really know about castles and castle life during the Mid-
dle Ages? They have the opportunity to find out in this
webquest, and to design and create an appropriate castle
of their own. Use the 2nd URL above for alternative links.
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If for any reason you are experiencing problems with the URLs
in The Classroom Flyer, please try visiting the Classroom Flyer
subscription page, and choose the text-only option.
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.4.LqWZsz
Contact Information for Riverdeep:
Customer Service and Sales Team:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.5.L1dPq0
School Product Technical Support Web Site:
http://info.riverdeep.net/Key=35102.MWb.6.Cg4JnK
We welcome all of your comments & letters. Please send them to:
Brenda Barron, Editor
classroomflyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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