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CATEGORY: History and Social Studies Resources |
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Alice Kurtz reviews The Historian's Apprentice, a social studies program that enables students to act as historians as they follow a protocol for examining primary and secondary sources to answer complex questions from American history.
For March 1, 2010: Through a collaboration of several federal government agencies, at the Women's History Month for Teachers website, teachers are presented with a variety of primary source materials to use in their classrooms.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
Collaborations with top publishers, two public school systems, and others growDiscovery Education's library of content to more than 150,000 assets.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Feb 2010
In honor of Black History Month, Shmoop, a Silicon Valley-based learning resource website, has compiled 47 free learning guides for high school students.
News/Free Resources - Posted 09 Feb 2010
With these agreements, a total of more than 62,000 K-12 and public library titles are now available for purchase online through parent company Follett's ecommerce sites, Titlewave and TitleTales.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Feb 2010
The latest version of the 22-volume encyclopedia includes thousands of new and revised articles across all disciplines and topics. The World Book Web, World Book's online information portal, includes reference collections which offer all the articles in the print edition as well as thousands more from World Book's contributors.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2010
For Black History Month (February), Gale Cengage has again assembled a collection of activities and information to complement classroom topics.
News/Free Resources - Posted 25 Jan 2010
For January 15, 2010: The interactive site Fresh from the World ... Where Your Food Comes From presents the history of 15 popular foods as well as how food is grown, processed, and distributed.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jan 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
In her last Media Center column (November/December 2009), Mary Alice examined the power of primary sources and shared ideas for using them to enhance student learning. This month, she discusses how educators can learn how to add power to their teaching by using Teaching With Primary Sources Direct, or TPS Direct, a powerful, high-quality, free online professional development tool from the Library of Congress.
There is an economical way to introduce videoconferencing that involves inexpensive laptop computers and programs such as iChat, Skype, and ooVoo. A technology integration plan shared by a few pioneering districts in the author's area proves this point. Through it, schools have been able to make a serious commitment to the "new wave" of interactive technology at a minimal cost.
For January 1, 2010: Celebrate National Agriculture Day in your classroom or community. Each year the program promotes American agriculture and its essential role in maintaining a strong economy.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jan 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
PBS Teachers has launched its contribution to public media's Economy Collaboration project, based on the recent global financial crisis, to help students understand complex economic concepts.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Dec 2009
Curriculum Correlations is a search tool designed to help educators and librarians select resources to meet state and national standards. Librarians can search it by state, subject, and grade to locate titles that align to state and federal standards in the areas of language arts, science, social studies, health, and physical education.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Dec 2009
For December 1, 2009: At Amazon Interactive, one of a multitude of Eduweb interactive learning sites developed with a range of partners, explore the geography of the Ecuadorian Amazon through online activities.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Dec 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Curriculum Video On Demand is a compilation of high-school-level video content from producers around the world, covering six core subject areas: science and mathematics, social studies, literature and language arts, health and nutrition, business and economics, and visual and performing arts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Nov 2009
What's a primary source? The response, "Diaries, letters, journals, oral interviews, historic documents, photos, and newspapers" is typical. But what about sheet music, drawings, maps, movies, passports, athletic event ticket stubs and statistics, campaign buttons, quilts, flyers, political cartoons, telegrams, blogs, YouTube videos, tweets, or cell phone messages? Whether it's a traditional print document or a Web 2.0 digital file, primary sources have the potential to foster an interactive classroom and deepen understanding.
The constant development of new and evolving internet and electronic technologies has resulted in the creation of an exciting variety of teacher tools for classroom use. The related changing nature of culture and the way students learn these days makes it imperative to adopt these digital tools in our schools. This article takes a look at a sampling of new or updated software, web-based services, and hardware that can be very useful in a variety of learning situations.
Alice Kurtz reviews The September 11th Education Program: A National Interdisciplinary Curriculum, a seven-unit multimedia curriculum focused on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
With BrainPOP's animated educational resources fully accessible from within the netTrekker search tool, subscribers have the option to upgrade their netTrekker accounts to include all BrainPOP products.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Oct 2009
Through a partnership with NBC Learn, the educational arm of NBC News, K-12 and postsecondary institutions in North America now have access to NBC News Archives on Demand.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Oct 2009
On-demand video, lessons plans, student activities, and historical archives are now available through PBS Teachers. An Oct. 7 webinar provides ideas on infusing technology into instruction through the free online tools and 'National Parks' educational media.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Oct 2009
In addition to Scholastic's Magic School Bus series, under the new agreement, Discovery Education streaming's users continue to have access to more than 50 Scholastic titles from series including Dear America, Horrible Histories, and I Spy.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Sep 2009
Susan Hixson reviews Maps101.com, a subscription-based online resource that provides access to thousands of interactive maps, videos, animated timelines, educational games, and educator resources for teaching earth science, geography, history, and social studies.
For September 1, 2009: At the National Archives' Charters of Freedom website you can view original documents, read transcriptions, gather biographical information about the Founding Fathers who attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and more.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
The upgrades and enhancements offer educators improved search capabilities, as well as expanded student access and new interactive games and tutorials.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Aug 2009
A recent post on Gary Price's Resource Shelf tipped us off to this website and collection of Human Population lesson plans from the Washington, DC-based Population Reference Bureau.
News/Free Resources - Posted 30 Jul 2009
The 21st Century Skills Science and Geography Maps demonstrate how the integration of 21st century skills into science and geography classes support teaching and prepare students to become effective and productive citizens.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Jun 2009
The collection, "Local and Regional History Online: A History of American Life in Images and Texts," includes hundreds of thousands of images and corresponding texts from every region and state in the U.S. and from many areas of Canada.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jun 2009
Conspiracy Code offers an original learning environment where students can strengthen higher-order thinking, written communication, problem-solving, and collaborative skills, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Jun 2009
For June 1, 2009: Smokey Bear has been around for 65 years promoting the prevention of wildfires. Visit Smokey’s website for some expert information for kids, plus perhaps some nostalgia for you!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jun 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Each title is a comprehensive review of subject matter delivered as an educational video and digital workbook.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 May 2009
For May 1, 2009: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, aka the CDC, was founded in 1946 to help control malaria. Since that time it has expanded its focus to prevent and control chronic and infectious diseases (Swine flu? They're on it.), injuries, workplace hazards, disabilities, and environmental health threats.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 May 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Sharing knowledge: In some form or another, it’s why most educators went into teaching in the first place. But traditional instructional materials don’t lend themselves to sharing between educators. New technologies now allow teachers to share and collaborate locally and globally in ways that generations past could never have imagined. These tools signal what may grow to be true disruptive change in how schools acquire and disseminate instructional and professional development resources. The nonprofit Curriki.org (www.curriki.org) is a 3-year-old organization that offers a large collection of free and open source content and collaboration tools.
Newsy.com's short video stories are actually digests of the range of news outlet reporting—print, TV, blogs … the whole gamut—on selected hot news topics. Theresa Cramer has written an Information Today NewsBreak on Newsy.com that offers a description and some interesting analysis of this company and its product. (From Information Today, Inc.’s NewsBreaks.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 27 Apr 2009
From a recent Scout Report: "Civics can be a dreaded word for some students, but things just got a bit more interesting with this rather thoughtful and interesting video workshop created by the National Council for the Social Studies and the Center for Civic Education."
News/Free Resources - Posted 24 Apr 2009
The World Digital Library has now gone live and was inaugurated today, April 21, 2009, at the UNESCO office in Paris. There's an excellent article about it on Washington Post.com that lays out the history, scope, and future plans for the project.
News/Cool Links - Posted 21 Apr 2009
For April 15, 2009: The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History makes primary source documents and educational resources from all eras of American history available for free through the Institute's website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Apr 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
The collection of web-delivered animated movies, quizzes, and activities is intended to help foster discussion of timely topics to help children understand the financial issues facing the nation and the world today.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Apr 2009
The new site, which is openly accessible on the web through April 30, gives researchers, instructors, and students access to 5000+ cross-searchable video titles.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Apr 2009
Targeting civics and social studies classrooms and projects, the online resource features an easy-to-navigate interface, allowing students to fine-tune specific search topics for the core curriculum, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Apr 2009
Music Online is a comprehensive resource for the study of classical, jazz, world, and American music that delivers audio recordings, video content, full-text reference materials, musical scores, liner notes, biographies, and images through a single interface.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Apr 2009
Gary Price's ResourceShelf tipped us off to a free trial, running through April 30, of Alexander Street Press's new database American History in Video. It is very much worth a look and a trial.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Mar 2009
For March 15, 2009: At the “Votes for Women” Suffrage Pictures, 1850 – 1920 site in the Library of Congress’ American Memory Collection, students researching Women's History Month can find a selection of portraits featuring leaders of the suffrage movement.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Mar 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
The 34-part series of lesson plans is designed to help social studies educators harness the power of alternative thinking and brings two innovative and engaging research tools to the classroom: the analysis of primary documents and the revealing speculation of alternative history.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Mar 2009
There are some great facts, links, and other resources available from the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Facts for Features: Women’s History Month—March 2009” web page that you can point teacher colleagues to.
News/Free Resources - Posted 09 Mar 2009
“Inspiring Middle School Literacy: Reading and Writing in Science and History” is the first collection on Teachers’ Domain that focuses exclusively on building literacy skills across content areas. It is comprised of interactive activities that middle school teachers can use to supplement their science, social studies, or language arts curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Mar 2009
It’s a celebration of creative learning through technology. It’s a day filled with minds-on, hands-on, collaborative learning experiences. It’s a mini-Oscar event, complete with red carpet, lights, and paparazzi. It’s the 34th annual International Student Media Festival. Read all about it in Johanna Riddle's report.
Online “global classrooms” empower educators to leverage the power of social networking to create curriculum that is more interdisciplinary, more effective, and more relevant to students’ lives. The global classroom represents the future of learning—and the future is now! This article offers a nuts-and-bolts guide for developing a global classroom, using TakingITGlobal’s “virtual classroom” platform as a model. It begins by describing TakingITGlobal for Educators, or TIGed, and how it works; it then offers a step-by-step guide for educators who want to establish or modify their own online global classrooms.
For February 15, 2009: Abraham Lincoln, one of the most popular presidents to govern this country, left a legacy of more than 20,000 documents, and you can access them at the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Feb 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
The latest addition to World Book Web includes more than 100,000 articles and thousands of images and multimedia resources for Spanish speakers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Feb 2009
The 60-volume set of classics published by Encyclopaedia Britannica is now available to libraries, universities, and schools in electronic form and distributed exclusively through Ingram Digital’s MyiLibrary aggregated e-book platform.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Feb 2009
Today’s students are truly digital learners. Outside of school they are texting, using cell phones, creating social networks on the internet, and playing interactive games online; they often do all of these things at the same time—multitasking. They expect to use some of these tools when they are in school. Teachers can create new learning opportunities for students and turn classrooms into the 21st-century global classroom when they integrate technology into the learning environment. Read on to learn from Sheila Gersh just how teachers can begin to create such environments.
A comprehensive upgrade to the World Book Online Reference Center, World Book Student adds dozens of new research tools, interactive features, and multimedia.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Dec 2008
For December 15, 2008: Want to know more about the traditions of past Presidential inaugurations? Get the scoop from the LOC’s American Memory collection and its Inaugurations Learning Page.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Dec 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
Ancient Rome in 3D, which enables students to explore the historic city as it stood centuries ago, is one of the most extensive collections of three-dimensional buildings to be found on Google Earth.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Nov 2008
ABC-CLIO will award more than $60,000 in cash and prizes to teams researching “Top 10 People, Events, Places Shaping History”
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Nov 2008
The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict provides a general reference work encompassing all aspects of the contentious Arab-Israeli relationship from biblical times to the present.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Nov 2008
For November 1, 2008: Highlighting the BBC Ancient History: Egyptians website are two outstanding interactive features that will mesmerize your students.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Nov 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
Trek back in history to the reign of the pharaohs. Uncover the secrets of mummification. Lift the shroud of mystery surrounding the great pyramids. Translate hieroglyphic writing. Open the door to anthropology and archeology through the study of Ancient Egypt. With Cyberbee's guidance this month, your students will discover and solve many mysteries.
With Web 2.0, the number and functionality of fee-based and free interactive electronic resources available for K–12 classrooms have grown and changed tremendously in the last 5 years. In this article, the sixth in Robert Congleton's series of reviews, he looks at four websites he found particularly notable for the interactive programs they offer. These are programs that can be integrated into K–12 classrooms either as part of the curriculum or as learning supplements. One is a fee-based database while the others are free to use but require user registration.
Of our 53 million K–12 students, 51 million of them (or 93%) play video games, and neither that number nor the value the games they play should be dismissed. After all, these days there are games being produced by “a new crop of entrepreneur-developers who believe that today’s games must be anchored in more specific pedagogical design principles. They also believe that to stand the test of time, today’s games must not only engage but teach ,” says author and game developer Ntiedo Etuk. Read on. Find out more.
Election Central provides resources and forums for learning and discussing how elections affect the global marketplace.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Oct 2008
Galeschools.com is hosting Monster Vote 2008, an exercise designed to help students understand the election process and a contest offering one lucky class a chance to win a set of Monsters books from KidHaven Press.
News/Cool Links - Posted 24 Oct 2008
Picturing America, presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), provides high-quality reproductions of great American art to public libraries and K-12 schools to enhance the study of history, social studies, language arts, literature, and civics.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Oct 2008
For October 15, 2008: Money and financial planning. Too boring for kids, right? NOT! Have them blast off to Planet Orange to explore the world of money.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Oct 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
For October 1, 2008: Over 400 teacher-tested economic lessons are available for immediate use in the classroom at EconEdLink, from the National Council on Economic Education.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Oct 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
The “Every Kid Votes” program aims to organize and mobilize 2.5 million grade-schoolers to participate in the voting process.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Sep 2008
The company’s books for teaching with InspireData feature lesson plans on compelling topics, mapped to standards, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Sep 2008
Educational publisher ETA/Cuisenaire is honoring International Literacy Day (Sept. 8) with month-long access to free resources from its new WorldScapes Global Issues book series.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Sep 2008
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) presents an “Introduction to Geocaching” Webinar on Sept. 24.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Sep 2008
Inspiration Software offers a free Web cast on Oct. 16 at noon Pacific time (3 p.m. Eastern time) titled “Analyzing Close Presidential Races with InspireData: How Might a Different Winner Have Changed History?”
News/Free Resources - Posted 11 Sep 2008
With the 2008 election upon us, there are many websites analyzing the personal attributes and platforms of the candidates as well as examining the political process for electing a president. The news media provides all sorts of information from facts to commentary with a dose of speculation by an array of "expert" panelists. For better or worse, YouTube and blogs allow unfettered participation by individuals. It is more important than ever that your students learn to be discerning readers when researching these sources. CyberBee has selected a variety of places to explore and use with your students.
For September 1, 2008: From the Scholastic News Online - Election 2008 site you can meet the candidates, join an online discussion of campaign issues, cast your vote in a mock election, and more.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
ABC-CLIO offers a new free online History & the Headlines resource, “Presidential Elections: In History & Today.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 29 Aug 2008
ABC-CLIO’s collections of free online resources feature the Arab-Israeli conflict, the upcoming Spike Lee World War II film, and controversy in the Oval Office.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Aug 2008
CTB/McGraw-Hill’s TerraNova assessment now includes companion reports developed in partnership with CTB/McGraw-Hill and The Grow Network/McGraw-Hill.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jul 2008
The 21st Century Skills and Social Studies Map is the first in a series of core content maps designed for educators, administrators and policymakers. Other maps will be available for mathematics, English, geography, and science throughout 2008 and 2009.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Jul 2008
Alice Kurtz takes a look at two new web sites from the Library of Congress.
Years ago, CyberBee began scouting the internet for content that was informative, engaging, and aligned with national standards, in 1996 becoming a column for MultiMedia & Internet@Schools magazine and a website for teachers. CyberBee thought it would be fitting to revisit some of the great websites that you may have missed over the past few years. There should be plenty of ideas to help you plan your lessons for the new school year.
Hundreds of vacation destinations beckon families to visit each year. From battlefields and hiking to hands-on fun such as panning for gold, there is an adventure for everyone. And in the classroom in spring, students can prepare for their journeys via a wide array of learning activities. CyberBee has been scouting for summer excursions that will delight and nurture the minds of all ages. A few favorites are presented here.
Geocaching, using GPS technology, is loads of fun, and it offers lots of educational opportunities as well. Yes, even in the media center. Media specialists are good at making curricular connections, and, says Mary Alice Anderson, the curriculum connections with geocaching are easy to see. Don't believe it?? Read and learn.
With agricultural commodities so readily accessible in the U.S., it is easy to forget how the baked ham, green beans, pineapple, and rolls with butter arrive on the dinner plate in some countries, but not in others. Learning about agricultural practices, economics, and the importance of farming will go a long way in helping students understand one aspect of global interdependence. Prepare your students for a trip to a working farm by visiting these websites, all vetted by Cyberbee, aka longtime MMIS columnist and educator Linda Joseph.
Three new topics will be added this spring to ABC-CLIO’s History and the Headlines collection of free online resources.
News/Free Resources - Posted 26 Feb 2008
For February 15, 2008: Aboard the Underground Railroad showcases 55 historic places that are listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Feb 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
With citations on people from antiquity through 1980s headlines, Biography Index Retrospective brings WilsonWeb searching to the in-depth data that earned Biography Index decades of popularity as a print reference.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Feb 2008
ProQuest is adding streaming video and slideshows to CultureGrams Online.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2008
For January 15, 2008: There are times when we simply have to "hold" a resource, touch it, and see it firsthand. The Library of Congress’ Primary Source Tool Kit website can make this possible!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jan 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
Enhancements to the new versions of these databases include an "Analyze" section that helps students examine key dilemmas in history, grapple with issues, and build historical inquiry skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Jan 2008
The redesigned database offers a new interface, greater functionality, new special features, a significant amount of new content, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Jan 2008
Finding just the right book that will grab a student's interest is like looking for Waldo. Tracking down books that correlate with specific curriculum areas and topics for study can be daunting. What is a library media specialist to do? Use every tool in your arsenal as well as lessons and booklists that have already been prepared and are just waiting to be uncovered by the savvy searcher. This collection of websites will serve as a starting point in your quest to recommend the best books to meet the needs of students and teachers.
Do you still remember the thrill of receiving a summer postcard from your teacher? How exciting it was to open the mailbox and find that personal piece of mail waiting—and to realize that your teacher was thinking of you. Perhaps the photograph on the face of the card led you to the encyclopedia to learn more about a particular place, while a handwritten line or two described a cultural experience, unusual food, or new language. Travel postcards, sent by thoughtful teachers over the years, have broadened the world of many a child. Yesterday’s postcards have gone high-tech. Weblogs, or blogs, enable today’s teachers to send a new kind of post, sharing their travel experiences as they unfold. Blogs provide an up-to-the-minute opportunity for teachers to continue to educate their students through semester breaks, to interact with their school communities, and to share experiences and locales that encourage understanding of the broader world. And those 21st century postcards come complete with the ability to upload and publish journal entries, photos, slideshows, audio, video, and educational links.
The "Our Stories" project is a joint initiative to preserve and share the histories and identities of cultures around the world by making personal stories available online in many languages.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Dec 2007
For December 15, 2007: Politics and polling are upon us, and the RealClearPolitics website can help students understand polling data ... and polling as a whole.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Dec 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
The encyclopedia includes access to The World Book Web, World Book's suite of online publications, featuring all the articles in the print edition as well as thousands more from World Book's contributors and access to additional resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Dec 2007
ABC-CLIO expands its free online resources with “History and Headlines: Chronicling Despair and Hope in Darfur.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 04 Dec 2007
For November 15, 2007: In Find Your Longitude, a NOVA Online Adventure game from PBS, your students can find out why having a precise timepiece—a chronometer—helps determine your longitude.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Nov 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
The Decision ’08 resource, designed specifically for classroom instruction, offers up-to-the-minute presidential election news through a video-on-demand user interface, allowing teachers to customize their lesson plans with compelling and relevant content to bring the election process and political issues to life, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Nov 2007
The videos include many clips from old newsreel footage. They offer a full-screen option, links to related records, and explanatory captions, and they require no downloads.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Oct 2007
For October 15, 2007: Study the Great Depression using the New Deal Network as an educational guide.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Oct 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
The film chronicles an assignment given to students in a small rural community in Tennessee to explore diversity, tolerance, culture, history and love.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Oct 2007
The third in ABC-CLIO's Fall 2007 lineup of free online reference and activity collection is now available.
News/Free Resources - Posted 03 Oct 2007
For October 1, 2007: Practice constructing a digital story at the Ken Burns PBS Web site.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Oct 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
The new lesson collection for grades 4-12 is designed to help teachers use InspireData in science, mathematics, and social studies.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2007
ABC-CLIO expands its free “History and the Headlines” online resources with “Double Victory—Minorities and Women During World War II,” material designed to support the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick PBS/WETA documentary, “The War.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Sep 2007
Resourceshelf's Senior Editor Shirl Kennedy compiled and annotated an awesome collection of education resources largely from government Web sites in the September 20, 2007 version of the Resource of the Week article she does.
News/Cool Links - Posted 20 Sep 2007
ABC-CLIO launches the first in its Fall 2007 lineup of free online reference and activity collections in a nod to Constitution Day (Monday, September 17).
News/Free Resources - Posted 12 Sep 2007
Finding safe, engaging collaborative projects for your classroom doesn't have to be a challenge. There are many mentored and data-entry activities that allow your students to participate with classrooms across the country and around the world. Many of the Internet projects have been around for years with proven track records. Others have the backing of nonprofit foundations. This month, Cyberbee directs you to a range of such sites where you can find a project that is just right for your classroom.
In this article, Part 5 of his series of reviews, Robert Congleton continues his conversations with representatives of vendors--in this case, ePals, LearningExpress, and Teen Health & Wellness--about how they are addressing the growing K–12 classroom reliance on electronic resources, the products they currently offer, and what new resources they plan to release in the near future. The article also describes updates on enhancements and new products that have been released in the last year by five of the vendors previously reviewed in this series: Gale, Greenwood Electronic Media, TeachingBooks.net, World Book, Grolier Online/Scholastic, Inc.
For September 1, 2007: The MY HERO project encourages families, schools, and organizations to publicly honor heroes that have made a difference through words, images, and short films.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
For those hot summer days, our pals at ResourceShelf have hit on another fun and appropriate resource—a Webliography from the Library of Congress about ice cream!
News/Cool Links - Posted 26 Jul 2007
The National Air and Space Museum offers a variety of classroom resources, including online activities and teaching materials, designed for use in learning across the curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Jul 2007
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History offers a free online slide show titled “Wilberforce, Lincoln, and the Abolition of Slavery” and other online resources for teachers and students.
News/Free Resources - Posted 07 Jul 2007
For July 1, 2007: The Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students (C.A.R.T.S.) site is filled with folklore, history, culture, and arts-in-education resources and educational activities.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jul 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
Alice Kurtz reviews a mutidisciplinary program containing the award-winning documentary "When the Levees Broke" and a companion curriculum guide.
Holt World History: Human Legacy emphaszies document-based investigation and teaches students to read like historians, analyzing source documents to create an understanding of historical figures and societies.
Educational videoconferencing has come a long way over the years. It started out very slowly, and, in recent years, there has been a burst of interest on the part of museums and zoos in providing their educational programs via this medium. As schools find it more difficult and more expensive to take their students on physical field trips, students are missing out on the phenomenal resources that these cultural institutions have to offer. When gas prices began to rise, local museums found that even schools in the neighborhood were unwilling to spend their precious fuel budgets bussing students off-site. Those in the museum community chose to take this as a sign that they should begin to promote their distance learning efforts.
A key feature of World Book Advanced is its integrated content, allowing students to search across a vast collection of primary source documents, e-books, and encyclopedia articles as well as multimedia elements, editor-selected Web sites, current magazine selections, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jun 2007
The new book reveals both the strengths and the weaknesses and biases of 100 top news and information Web sites.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jun 2007
“Blue Vinyl: The World’s First Toxic Comedy,” a documentary directed by Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold, takes a charming look at a chilling situation with worldwide implications.
News/Cool Links - Posted 26 May 2007
Thomson Gale has introduced a new reference Web site called WiseTo Social Issues, a site dedicated to comprehensively exploring today’s hottest and most divisive topics. (From Information Today, Inc.’s NewsBreaks Weekly News Digest)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 07 May 2007
These new publishing partners will allow their content to be available to libraries worldwide through the ebrary platform, under a variety of pricing and access models.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 May 2007
Sally Finley reviews InspireData, database software focused on the concepts of visual learning and data literacy.
Reviewer Alice Kurtz takes a look at Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, a ready-reference database that examines today's major social issues.
Before the European settlers arrived, there were huge prairies stretching for miles across the North American continent. Only remnants—about 1 percent to 2 percent—of this environmental habitat remain. This has prompted restoration projects by government agencies, foundations, and nonprofit organizations in several states. Teachers and students can learn about prairies through virtual field trips or by visiting a nature center nearby. Back in the classroom, students can use this knowledge to design and plant their own prairies as part of the school landscape. Let Cyberbee be your guide to Web resources on the subject!
For May 1, 2007: The prairie is one of North America’s great ecosystems and a vital habitat for many plants and animals. The Bell LIVE! On the Prairie site offers a great resource in understanding and restoring prairies.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 May 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
Gary Price’s ResourceShelf recently offered this description and pointer to the U.S. DOE’s Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) directory.
News/Free Resources - Posted 26 Apr 2007
For April 15, 2007: At Moneyopolis, treat your students to a hands-on/minds-on money management and financial planning learning experience.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Apr 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation will make Spike Lee’s HBO Hurricane Katrina documentary and a companion curriculum available at no cost for use by high school, college and community educators.
News/Free Resources - Posted 14 Apr 2007
“Chronicling America” is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress created to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with select digitization of historic pages as well as information about newspapers from 1690 to the present.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Apr 2007
The veteran comics artist discusses his latest work, “The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation.” The powerful graphic adaptation offers secondary-level educators a compelling way to help students understand the impact of 9/11, and to put its events into a meaningful historical perspective.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Apr 2007
Thomson Gale has launched WiseTo Social Issues, a new reference Web site dedicated to exploring divisive topics. (From Information Today, Inc.'s EContentMag.com.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 10 Apr 2007
With this new partnership, schools will be able to work with their EBSCO representative to consolidate orders for ABC-CLIO databases with their orders for EBSCOhost databases.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2007
NoveList Plus represents the most significant development effort in this product line since NoveList was first introduced in 1994, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2007
The MAKING HISTORY 2.0 computer simulation game is a contest of economics, warfare, and diplomacy, offering teachers in high schools and colleges a tool for motivating students to think critically, discuss complex topics, and improve their understanding of global conflict.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Mar 2007
The competition is designed to promote technology-rich global learning from students and educators around the world.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Mar 2007
The new database offers full-text information for opposing viewpoints on key issues
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Mar 2007
The Library of Congress has gathered a dynamite collection of multimedia resources online for use by educators in teaching during Women’s History Month.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Mar 2007
Alice Kurtz reviews Virtual History - Ancient Egypt, a CD-based computer simulation designed to allow students to experience life in the Egypt of 4,000 years ago.
Moving right along, Charlie switches from last issue's Look At ... Elementary-Level Software and Webware to secondary-level materials this time ... "everything from exciting new software for video-editing tasks that weren’t really possible in high schools 20 years ago to extraordinary subscription databases," plus "Web-based courseware that is becoming larger and larger in scope, more sophisticated assessment tools, and some programs with intriguing electronic delivery methods."
Given the health issues facing children today, Cyberbee has decided to provide you this month with an array of reliable Web-based sources of information for you--or them--to use in pursuit of knowledge and healthy choices.
The LOC’s “Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training” collection captures the post-World War II period in vivid terms and intimate detail, documenting the way U.S. diplomacy defended the U.S. and its interests in a challenging world.
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Feb 2007
Students have the opportunity to explore and learn about the African American experience through World Book's free, interactive Black History site.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Feb 2007
To support teachers who want to explore use of video games in education, Muzzy Lane Software has created the MAKING HISTORY Innovative Teacher Challenge, open to all high school history teachers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Feb 2007
The new database combines authoritative research sources, inquiry-based teaching and study tools, and integrated current events aligned to social studies standards and curriculum.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Jan 2007
The National Geographic Web site, Ngm.com/, explores a variety of subjects--and many corners of the world--in the month of January.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Jan 2007
Susan Hixson reviews Rand McNally Classroom, a Web site designed for teaching the K-12 curriculum in social studies, history and geography.
An online product designed for younger users, English-language learners, and reluctant readers, World Book Kid offers simple navigation, easy to read content, bright colors, and bold graphics.
This article begins with a look at some examples of the excellent smaller, more narrowly focused elementary programs available on CD and moves on to examples of some of the outstanding, more far-reaching programs available via the Web or a network of some type. As usual, Charlie Doe has the category covered in this latest roundup.
The United Nations organization has put together a Web site of resources and links that you'll find useful if you want to teach to the subject of human rights and poverty on the advent of Human Rights Day this December 10.
News/Free Resources - Posted 04 Dec 2006
For December 1, 2006: Fact Monster, a great, free research, homework help, and just plain fun site from Information Please, provides loads of features targeted to students.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Dec 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
Comprised of concise, balanced original articles, primary source documents, diaries, speeches, and interviews, the database is targeted to grades 7 and up, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Nov 2006
The program is designed to personalize the study of U.S. history and teach students about the important events of the past through the stories of real people, the individuals who have contributed in large and small ways to the building of the nation.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Nov 2006
ABC-Clio’s new program is designed to demonstrate how librarians and social studies departments can partner to develop students’ information literacy and inquiry skills.
News/Free Resources - Posted 20 Nov 2006
The folks at the ReadWriteThink Web site—a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Verizon Foundation—have an excellent collection of resources of their own making, plus links to many more, to use during National American Indian Heritage Month.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Nov 2006
Reviewer Alice Kurtz takes a look at American History Online, a database for 7th grade - high school learning.
The CultureGrams report series provides an insider's perspective on the daily life and culture of countries across the globe, including background information on customs, lifestyle, and country-specific recipes.
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) offers a variety of free online resources for K-12 educators and students, including curriculum information, lesson plans, bibliographies, and teacher workshops.
News/Free Resources - Posted 26 Oct 2006
Gary Price and his ResourceShelf team are so concise and so “on target” with this particular ResourceShelf item on finding real-time news photos that we just have to point you to it.
News/Cool Links - Posted 20 Oct 2006
There are more than 150 new video, DVD, and CD-ROM titles for grades K-12,
including animated series, now available in the Discovery School line of products.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Oct 2006
Educators can now help their students gain a deeper understanding of the world by blending unitedstreaming’s broadband videos on historical, geographical, or other subjects with Google Earth’s cutting-edge geography content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Oct 2006
Nope, not a massively multiplayer online war simulation game nor a superhero character. NationMaster is “a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. … a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 09 Oct 2006
The Virtual History - Ancient Egypt multi-level, 5 – 7 day module is intended as a capstone to a traditionally taught section on ancient Egypt.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Oct 2006
The new feature in World Book’s Online Reference Center is intended to help students and their parents better understand the issues around global warming, from the science to the politics.
News/Free Resources - Posted 04 Oct 2006
Among the features and services is a Banned Books Week display that highlights the books of author Robie Harris and illustrator Michael Emberley. They are the creators of the most challenged book of 2005.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Sep 2006
The daily 10-minute broadcast on Headline News can be downloaded free from the CNN Web site.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Sep 2006
The new interface is for Readex’s Web-based America’s Historical Newspapers collection, which includes Early American Newspapers, Series I, II, and III, 1690-1922. (From Information Today, Inc.'s NewsBreaks Weekly News Digest)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 18 Sep 2006
PressDisplay 3.0 adds features and functionality—including cross-searching of the entire archive of titles—to the collection. (From Information Today, Inc.’s NewsBreaks Weekly News Digest)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 18 Sep 2006
WGBH Boston Video debuts World War I: Killing Fields and World War II: The Home Front on DVD on October 24.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Sep 2006
For September 15, 2006: It’s election season and a time for civics lessons. The Committee for Citizen Awareness produces and distributes a series of educational civics videotapes, with titles including The U.S. Congress and You, Your Court System and You, The Executive Branch and You, and more.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
From September 15 to October 15, 2006, Thomson Gale will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by offering free or trial access to a wealth of resources, educational activities, and authoritative information about the history, influence, and achievements of the Hispanic culture.
News/Free Resources - Posted 14 Sep 2006
Topics in BrainPOP Jr. are chosen to correlate with national standards and testing mandates but are written in fun and understandable language for children.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Sep 2006
The new reading intervention program, Passport Reading Journeys: Beginnings, expands the Passport Reading Journeys series for use with secondary students reading three to four years below grade level.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Sep 2006
Reviewer Alice Kurtz takes a look at Issues and Controversies in American History, a subscription database from Facts on File News Services.
The Incite! Learning Series for grades 4–8 offers a set of original short films in an integrated media package that provides anchored instruction for social studies classrooms.
For September 1, 2006: From the National Park Service's Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area (one of 27 federally designated heritage areas in the nation), the CampSilos History Center Excursion Web site lets your students role play as curators, historians, and archivists in a museum.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
What do tombstones, driver’s licenses, and a sound recording have in common? They are primary sources. In an Information Age, students have more access to primary source material than any previous generation. In this month's column, Cyberbee shows where to find lots of them.
Colonial Williamsburg online offers free podcasts examining the city’s rich heritage, past and present.
News/Cool Links - Posted 26 Aug 2006
Travel from Botswana to New Guinea to China to the bottom of your closet on ngm.com in September.
News/Free Resources - Posted 25 Aug 2006
Users of ABC-CLIO’s Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life databases can now link directly from relevant journal article citations in those resources to the corresponding full text in EBSCO’s online databases via EBSCOhost.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2006
For August 15, 2006: Make your own change, learn how coins are made, and find out the latest news from the U.S. Mint’s H.I.P. Pocket Change site.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
In honor of Constitution Day, September 17, ConstitutionFacts.com offers a Constitution IQ test online at http://www.constitutionfacts.com/.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Aug 2006
The new WilsonWeb database will streamline research on today's most important topics, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Aug 2006
The redesign features a sharp new look, a user-friendly interface, increased functionality, and lots of additional content, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Jul 2006
The new service is a user-friendly interactive application that downloads news directly onto any computer, helping students stay connected to the news of the day.
News/Free Resources - Posted 14 Jul 2006
Alice Kurtz reviews PLATO's semester-long online program for high school History and Geography coursework.
In this issue, Linda Joseph's Cyberbee guides you and students to sites with ideas and tools, plus loads of examples, for leaving "a legacy of cultural history for future generations through digital storytelling."
The scholarly Web is getting noticed more because of new digitization initiatives underway and the enormous publicity search leaders are receiving for their fledgling work. Many librarians and researchers seem to be pleasantly surprised by the continually changing face of the scholarly Web and its freely available quality full-text offerings. This article brings together pertinent resources on the free Web of interest to anyone, including librarians and other educators, who conducts research and would like to easily supplement their currently available holdings, in print and electronic formats and via commercial vendors’ fee-based subscription databases, within their own libraries.
The scholarly Web is getting noticed more because of new digitization initiatives underway and the enormous publicity search leaders are receiving for their fledgling work. Many librarians and researchers seem to be pleasantly surprised by the continually changing face of the scholarly Web and its freely available quality full-text offerings. This article brings together pertinent resources on the free Web of interest to anyone, including librarians and other educators, who conducts research and would like to easily supplement their currently available holdings, in print and electronic formats and via commercial vendors’ fee-based subscription databases, within their own libraries.
The new database features all the up-to-date content of the reference standard Biography Index plus over 60 years of retrospective content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jun 2006
The online learning service is designed to provide engaging summer activities for kids of all ages.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jun 2006
SirsiDynix and INFOhio, the Information Network for Ohio Schools, announced that 140 librarians and educators in Ohio are creating content for SirsiDynix SchoolRooms.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jun 2006
Access NewspaperARCHIVE makes millions of searchable newspaper pages available at no cost to schools and libraries.
News/Free Resources - Posted 16 Jun 2006
The newly updated unitedstreaming video-on-demand service will include new multimedia assets, live curriculum-based Web seminars led by education technology experts, and hundreds of additional educational video titles.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Jun 2006
The animated films are meant to separate myth from reality and provide kid-friendly perspectives on topics now making the headlines, according to the announcement. (Yes, they’re talking about “The da Vinci Code” book and movie! Note that you can watch "The Fibonacci Sequence" free for a limited time.)
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Jun 2006
World Book’s hurricane feature offers a comprehensive overview of hurricanes, including how they originate and travel as well as their impact on both the coastal and marine ecosystems.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Jun 2006
These audio files are wonderful multimedia educational “artifacts.” Here’s some information, straight from the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs Web site.
News/Free Resources - Posted 26 May 2006
Facts on File launched a database redesign project with the expansion and enhancement of the company’s six history databases: American History Online, American Women’s History Online, African-American History Online, American Indian History Online, Ancient History Online, and World History Online.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 May 2006
Students using the multiplayer videogame about the political and economic causes of World War II reportedly achieved higher test scores than students learning the same material more traditionally.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 May 2006
The Development of the Industrial U.S. Reference Library, published by UXL, covers the history of America during the second half of the 19th century, a time when the country began its march toward the role of the wealthiest and most powerful industrial nation in the world.
The Glimpse Foundation launched its third annual Spring Photo Contest, "It's All in the Family," open to anyone who has traveled or lived abroad. The contest seeks photos that depict family life in countries other than the U.S.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Apr 2006
For April 15, 2006: Lots more fun than the I.R.S. (!), the federal government's National Postal Museum, a Smithsonian Institution museum, features exhibits such as Mail to the Chief, Object of the Month, and Posted Aboard R.M.S. Titanic at its Web site.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Apr 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
Questia Lesson Plans are the latest addition to Questia Classroom, the teacher and student resource center that integrates the company’s digital library content into class instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Mar 2006
EBSCO Publishing launched two free Web-based resources for school libraries: History-It’s Happening! and It’s a Reading Rave!
News/Free Resources - Posted 24 Mar 2006
The broadband educational video service has been designed for “kids
who live and learn online.”
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Mar 2006
One thousand new video titles and major feature enhancements help teachers improve student achievement, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Mar 2006
The images--including works by such giants as Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, and others--now join some 100,000 works in total on the WilsonWeb reference database Art Museum Image Gallery.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Mar 2006
The new database features many of the most important literary studies resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Mar 2006
The pilot project will enable researchers and the general public to access a diverse collection of historic movies, documentaries, and other films from the National Archives via Google Video as well as the National Archives Web site.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Mar 2006
CNN Student News celebrates Women’s History Month throughout the month of March by offering both on-air and online profiles of historical and modern women. Educators will also have access to additional learning activities as well as a backgrounder on the origins of Women’s History Month.
News/Free Resources - Posted 03 Mar 2006
Freedom on the Move, Continuing the March Toward a More Perfect Union offers students a multimedia experience focused on the important historical events associated with the civil rights movement, as well as an exploration of the issues of discrimination, prejudice, and bias.
The newest version of the educational simulation developer’s management program allows multiple teams to compete against each other.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Feb 2006
For February 15, 2006: Electric Universe is "a universe of information about electricity, how it affects our lives, and how to harness its power safely." Check out "Louie's Space" and other electrifying spots on the site!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Feb 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
Thomson Gale has announced the launch of a Web site of biographies, quizzes, activities, timelines, and more to complement classroom topics.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Feb 2006
This month, the National Geographic Web site examines the Winter Olympics in a variety of online feature articles.
News/Free Resources - Posted 12 Feb 2006
PEARL (Prepare and Educate Aspiring Reporters for Leadership) World Youth News is an international news service with articles written, edited, and published by secondary school students from around the world.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Feb 2006
The online curriculum system for middle and high school learners has also added multimedia-enhanced lessons in language arts, social studies, and mathematics.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2006
Thanks again to Gary Price’s ResourceShelf for a valuable pointer, this time to the Martin Luther King Jr. Newspaper Archive from NewspaperARCHIVE.com.
News/Free Resources - Posted 16 Jan 2006
For January 15, 2006: At FERI's Been Here So Long: Selections from the WPA American Slave Narratives site, 17 American Slave Narratives have been selected from approximately 2,300 that were compiled by the Federal Writers Project.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jan 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
The site is designed to help students, teachers, and families celebrate the month.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Jan 2006
In January, the online edition of National Geographic presents writer Frank Viviano’s examination of the conflict in Iraq. Viviano’s article focuses on the Kurds, possibly the only group powerful enough to keep Iraq from tearing itself apart.
News/Free Resources - Posted 03 Jan 2006
The Standard Deviants School Teaching Systems provide multimedia programs and classroom materials in 10 subject areas: Algebra, American Government, Biology, Chemistry, English Grammar, Physics, Basic Math, Nutrition, Shakespeare, and Spanish.
CyberBee, aka Linda Joseph, takes a tour of Web sites all about puzzles in this issue, covering puzzle history, puzzles for learning, puzzle generators, and more.
For January 1, 2006: Students will be fascinated by Henry Box Brown, who mailed himself to freedom. His story is told in UNC Chapel Hill's Documenting the American South digital publishing initiative.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jan 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
The National Television Academy, the organization behind the Emmy Awards, is offering free online curriculum materials designed to educate high school students about best practices in journalism.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Dec 2005
Another Information Today, Inc. e-publication has published a story on ProQuest's Black Studies Center. This one is an in-depth report for NewsBreaks by ITI News Bureau Chief Paula Hane. (From Information Today, Inc.'s NewsBreaks)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 06 Dec 2005
The Black Studies Center is intended to record and illuminate the Black experience, from ancient Africa through modern times. (From Information Today, Inc.'s EContentMag.com.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 02 Dec 2005
The link between NWEA’s assessment products and CompassLearning’s instructional resources will enhance educators’ ability to tie assessments to instructional content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Nov 2005
askSam continues to expand its free, searchable collection of important works online.
News/Free Resources - Posted 21 Nov 2005
Holt Social Studies: World Geography/World Regions 2007 is standards-based and provides content that is accessible to all learners through integrated research-based reading instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Nov 2005
The new Teachers’ Guide provides tutorials, tips, online and print resources, and specific curriculum-based projects in which U.S. teachers can participate to establish school-to-school global interaction on the Internet.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Nov 2005
Multimedia curriculum kits are being provided free to all 15,000 U.S. middle schools.
News/Free Resources - Posted 09 Nov 2005
For November 1, 2005: Explore Newton’s Castle, a “stimulating journey into the revelations of Sir Isaac Newton,” where you can learn about his discoveries … and secret life! Learn about color, optical illusions, and lots more ... such as why dogs chase cars! (Did they have cars in Newton's day??)
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Nov 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
Charlie Doe looks at everything from computers, projectors, and printers to curriculum, tool, and security software in his latest Look At ... roundup.
Linda Joseph's CyberBee this month offers a wide assortment of reference resources including online almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and map and statistics collections.
Databases can inspire novel approaches to creating curriculum. As teachers become familiar with them, their thinking about lesson planning and student research often moves in innovative directions. In this article, Sarah Cooper describes five projects through which librarians can take the lead in helping history and English teachers see the potential of this new world of sources. Included is coverage of database resources from Accessible Archives, Country Watch, EBSCO, Gale, JSTOR, LexisNexis, NewsBank, The OED Online, and ProQuest.
Discovery Health Connection now includes 16 curriculum programs, three Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Model Programs, correlations to every state’s educational standards, and more than 100 new literacy lessons, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Oct 2005
The educational award program will recognize the student-created Global SchoolNet Web projects that best teach others about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Oct 2005
The Web site will look at 14 American-involved wars and allow users to compare the military, economic, and social aspects of each conflict. A 30-day free preview is available.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Oct 2005
More than 98,000 images have been added, from sources including Getty Images, United Press International, and the Motion Picture & Television Archive.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Oct 2005
The individual scenes are divided into separate documents in the database, allowing users to easily search and locate scenes pertaining to specific topics, according to askSam Systems.
News/Free Resources - Posted 21 Sep 2005
From Boston-based PBS station WGBH, “Teachers' Domain is a multimedia digital library for the classroom that provides learning experiences in ways no textbook can.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 16 Sep 2005
On September 16, CNN Student News will offer a special report that highlights how the Constitution is living and breathing through recent events in the nation’s capital, a learning activity and a news quiz for educators who plan to teach the Constitution.
News/Free Resources - Posted 14 Sep 2005
ConstitutionFacts.com urges everyone to celebrate Constitution Day on September 17 by taking the site’s online 10-question Constitution I.Q. quiz.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Sep 2005
The AMLA’s Web site offers “a basic set of media literacy activities and suggestions … for educators who want to help students analyze, understand, and cope with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 07 Sep 2005
CNN Student News has many educational resources available to assist educators teach the destruction and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Check out these links.
News/Free Resources - Posted 07 Sep 2005
For Constitution Day in mid-September, there are lesson plans, crosswords, Q&A opportunities with Times reporters …. Good stuff!
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Sep 2005
For September 1, 2005: Just right for the upcoming Constitution and Citizenship Day, Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional Timeline introduces key historical events while allowing students to think about the issues.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
Linda Joseph's CyberBee offers a wide assortment of resources to help you with activities for your class in support of Constitution and Citizenship Day, coming up this month.
The National Geographic Web site takes a long look at Africa, in partnership with the magazine's Africa-themed September issue.
News/Free Resources - Posted 26 Aug 2005
Alexander Street Press’ new database is “an index to letters, diaries, oral histories, and other personal narratives.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Aug 2005
CQ Press is offering a free 19-page lesson plan titled “The First Amendment and Protection of Students’ Rights” in honor of National Constitution Day, September 17.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Aug 2005
For August 15, 2005: At the Memorial Hall Museum Online, explore the history of New England through artifacts and historic documents … even a “magic lens”!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
Being from the National Geographic Society, this news site is wide ranging, and both educator and student friendly.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Jul 2005
A review of the companion Web site for the PBS/NOVA "Saving the National Treasures" television program.
In Part 2 of his Database News series, Robert Congleton looks at the products offered by Facts On File, Greenwood Electronic Publishing, netTrekker, NewsBank, and World Book.
For this article, Audrey Church surveyed a number of e-book providers about their offerings to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the free and fee-based e-book content that's available today, as well as the sophisticated ways that content can be presented, searched, and otherwise worked with. Read on to see what's available from Project Gutenberg, Bartleby.com: Great Books Online, International Children's Digital Library, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Greenwood Publishing Group-eBooks, Follett Library Resource Company, Questia, and more.
Over 150 new video, DVD, and CD-ROM titles for grades K-12 have been added to the Discovery School line.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jun 2005
Readex's collection of primary sources will include approximately 15,000 broadsides from the 19th century. (From Information Today, Inc.’s NewsBreaks)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 20 Jun 2005
The Literary Encyclopedia is written and owned by a global network of scholars and researchers (above 1,000 and rising steadily) who are committed to making the publication into one of the most rewarding sites on the internet, according to the Web site. Definitely worth a visit, according to us.
News/Cool Links - Posted 16 Jun 2005
For June 15, 2005: Enter the front gate, virtually, of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis via this Web site developed by the St. Louis Public Library.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jun 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
A cooperative effort between the National Library of Spain and the Library of Congress, the redesigned site has added materials from the collections of the National Library of Spain.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Jun 2005
There are new, age-specific home pages and more powerful search capabilities in this latest Grolier, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Jun 2005
H.W. Wilson will offer the Art Image Database to replace the AMICO Library, which is ceasing publication in July.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Jun 2005
Librarian Marylaine Block’s Neat New Stuff I Found This Week was our tip-off to this quality teacher resource of historical maps and excellent accompanying lesson plans.
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Jun 2005
Project SMARTArt was created to integrate two principal tenets of media literacy – critical analysis and self-expression – into traditional curricula, according to Tessa Jolls, president of the Center for Media Literacy.
News/Free Resources - Posted 03 Jun 2005
Additions include Assignment Discovery titles, new digital images, and classroom integration ideas.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Jun 2005
EBSCO's Humanities International Complete provides humanities content via the full text of hundreds of journals, books, and other published sources from around the world.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 May 2005
The launch of Who’s Who in American History, with more than 70,000 historical biographies, represents the first phase of a major digitization initiative by Marquis Who’s Who.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 May 2005
Although this CIA reference site provides information as of 1 January 2005, it will be updated biweekly throughout the year to provide wide-ranging information about the background, geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for all included countries.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 May 2005
EASE History’s creators describe their Website as “a rich learning environment that supports the learning of U.S. history … by connecting historical events, campaign ads, and core democratic values.” With its more than 600 videos and photographs from 1900 to the present and an interesting interface to explore them, it is indeed all that.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 May 2005
For May 1, 2005: Learn all about the artist D.B. Johnson and his unique process for creating the illustrations in his award-winning children's books based on the life of Henry David Thoreau.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 May 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
Reseller Educational Resources is offering schools a free three-month subscription to the QuickMind.net collection of online curriculum and other resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Apr 2005
Online journal provider Project Muse is offering high school libraries its full collection for $1,000 per year.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Apr 2005
August 2005 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Emmett Till's murder. TeachingBooks.net, in collaboration with Houghton Mifflin Company, has created an online resource that stimulates discussion about this landmark event in America's civil rights history, an Authors Up-Close program featuring award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Apr 2005
EBSCO's new database is designed to provide high school students with resources for advanced studies.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Apr 2005
Did you know it was National Poetry Month? Well, it is, and new in Thomson Gale's Free Resources space is its Poet's Corner.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Apr 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Mar 2005
News/Free Resources - Posted 18 Mar 2005
(From Information Today, Inc.'s EContentMag.com.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 18 Mar 2005
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Mar 2005
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Mar 2005
The Iditarod dog sled race starts March 5. Here's a review by Sally Finley of a Web site offering lots of learning opportunities built around the race. (From Information Today, Inc.'s MultiMedia & Internet@Schools -- Yes, that's us, right here!)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 04 Mar 2005
This Web site features information and activities related to the annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race held in Alaska each March--this year starting March 5
Call to Freedom is a complete, online American history textbook covering pre-Columbian America to the present. It offers all of the features, content, and extensions of a traditional print textbook and includes a variety of tools that create an interactive environment for student learning.
One of the first concepts young people learn is the value of money in everyday life. From their first allowance to the entrepreneurship of the lemonade stand, students learn how to plan, save, and spend. CyberBee has been busy locating resources that will assist in teaching and learning about money.
To give MMIS readers a baseline on K-12 database content and an idea of what's coming up, the author recently spoke with representatives of a number of major vendors about the K-12 products they currently offer, as well as what's planned for release in the near future. The five covered in this article are ABC-CLIO Schools, EBSCO Publishing, ProQuest Information and Learning, Thomson Gale, and H.W. Wilson. But note that this article is listed as Part 1, as there are other resources to cover. Watch for Part 2 in an upcoming issue of MMIS.
For March 1, 2005: March is Women's History Month and the Women's Words of Wisdom: Thoughts Over Time site is a great way to introduce women's history to students.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Feb 2005
Searcher magazine authors Paul Piper and Miguel Ramos report exhaustively on blogs and bloggers offering up gritty reality checks and personal accounts of the situation in Iraq. If you want primary sources about Iraq for your students to examine, this article serves them up! (From Information Today, Inc.’s Searcher magazine.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 03 Feb 2005
News/Cool Links - Posted 03 Feb 2005
News/Free Resources - Posted 03 Feb 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
African American experiences during slavery are identified in the National History Standards under United States History, Era 2: Standard 3C, which states, "the student understands African life under slavery." The best way to learn about daily life, culture, and history is to draw upon the firsthand accounts of people who lived during that time period. CyberBee presents a collection of primary sources in this article that are tailor-made for studying this topic.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has teamed up with Pearson/Scott Foresman to create two grade-specific primary source CD-ROMs, Colonial Williamsburg Primary Sources for grades 1-3 and for grades 4-6. The materials allow students to explore historical research using documents, pictures, stories, and artifacts through multimedia activities.
As the Web continues to develop and faster Internet access becomes available to more individuals, the likelihood of Web-based programs replacing CD-ROMs is becoming more and more real. The advantages provided by subscription Web-based services will lead them to be used for direct instructional purposes in the classroom.
An easy-to-use educational software program that enables secondary education teachers and college instructors to bring U.S. demographic data into the classroom.
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