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CATEGORY: Middle |
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New apps track real-time grades, homework, attendance, and more with Facebook and Twitter integration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2012
Under the agreement, Gale will carry an online archive of more than 100 years of National Geographic magazine. Available to libraries this spring, National Geographic Magazine Archive, 1888-1994 will include all issues of the magazine in a fully searchable and intuitive interface.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2012
For January 15, 2012: Listen to former slaves describe their lives in Voices from the Days of Slavery: Former Slaves Tell Their Stories.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jan 2012
By
Linda C. Joseph
The new courses from ASCD support educators implementing Common Core State Standards. Three support implementation of new math standards; four subject-based courses focus on supporting educators in integrating the new literacy standards into science, history/social studies, English language arts, and mathematics lessons.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2012
A learning management system (LMS) is the Holy Grail of education: an online system to manage it all. In this month's Tools for Learning feature, writer Victor Rivero names a range of companies that have ventured into this territory, along with the products and services they offer.
The new Pre-Algebra section starts with the most basic fundamentals and focuses on making algebra fun, easy and - for the most part - painless. The section provides a number of worksheets and quizzes designed to steer even the most fervent algebra-hater gently and comfortably through the learning process.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Dec 2011
The bundle - which gives students, including those with learning disabilities, a way to visually express what they've learned across curriculum - incorporates the recently announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 and Adobe Premiere Elements 10 software, as well as Adobe Acrobat X Pro.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2011
After extensive user analysis and market feedback, the interface for Gale's online ebook platform has been overhauled with improved navigation and organization, and a vibrant and engaging display to draw in students, researchers, professionals and general readers, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2011
MyGovernment is an online subscription-based resource that provides essential information on United States elected officials, candidates and their key issues, and information on how our government functions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Nov 2011
The program diagnoses students' issues with geometry topics in order to provide educators with detailed reports on student skill acquisition and deficiencies.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Nov 2011
Among the key platform enhancements are iPad compatibility, a redesigned interface with improved navigation, a new video player, special collections for key producers, improved search and browse options, and new features for account administrators, including free MARC records for every video.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Nov 2011
The service will bring students and educators over 300 targeted programs in science, technology, engineering, and math.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Nov 2011
The iPhone and Android app features speech-to-text and picture-taking functionality.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Nov 2011
The next generation media-on-demand service from PBS is making public media available free to teachers and students nationwide.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Nov 2011
World Book Dramatic Learning provides original scripts, skits, and monologues to build reading fluency and content comprehension.
Grolier Online is a re-engineered, redesigned version of this web-based, subscription with new content and digital research tools. It tailors content for each user with an enhanced search engine that enables access to articles, maps, and videos that are adjustable to various reading levels.
Lexia Reading 8.0 provides a complete technology-based reading curriculum. It provides the needed practice, additional paper-based instruction, and skills practice to enable students to learn to read. Lexia Reading offers students a reading program that provides intensive time on task, with focused activities, scaffolding, and branching. It immediately assesses and reports to teachers exactly how each student is progressing.
Mary Alice notes that local museums, libraries, businesses, and passionate volunteers are digitizing primary resources and providing other digital content through processes once only affordable or possible by larger entities.
The textbook is evolving, to say the least. Stephen is excited by the opportunities this presents for educators. So this month's column explores the opportunity to enhance a learner's experience and success with next-generation textbooks.
For November 1, 2011: This year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. The National Portrait Gallery's CivilWar@Smithsonian features a wide array of primary sources to help you teach and commemorate the event.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Nov 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The new company provides one-to-one instruction from highly-experienced tutors in subjects ranging from general academic writing to college admissions essay help and even novel and screenplay writing, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Oct 2011
The redesigned site will feature hundreds of videos, math games and hands-on activities in support of cross-platform STEM learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2011
Focused on providing fun and engaging tools to classrooms and homes, these joint efforts include components like supplemental family activities, K-12 curriculum programs, interactive classroom lessons and more.
News/Free Resources - Posted 10 Oct 2011
Teach! Strategies & Resources is designed to help schools bridge current instruction and future Common Core expectations with on-demand instructional professional development support.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Oct 2011
For October 1, 2011: It's not too late to get involved with the Smithsonian's tree banding project You can do it now through Shoutlearning.org.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Oct 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The game is designed to help kids in grades 1-6 build an understanding of geometry. Shapescape joins Sokikom's three other games: Frachine, which focuses on fractions, decimals and percents; Opirate, which emphasizes mathematic operations and algebra; and Treeching, which concentrates on the principles of measurement, algebra, patterns, time and money.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2011
Through the Challenge, students are invited to team up with classmates under teacher/mentors to solve environmental problems in their school (grades K-5), community (grades 6-8) and world (grades 9-12).
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Sep 2011
In a move highly anticipated since its initial announcement in April, public libraries and schools in the U.S. can now lend ebooks for the Amazon Kindle.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Sep 2011
New features enable students to more easily produce meaningful images, professional-looking movies, and digital stories that combine photos and videos in creative ways. Teacher resources, including step-by-step tutorials and ready-to-use lessons for incorporating the software into classroom learning, are available online at the free Adobe Education Exchange.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Sep 2011
The MyLexia App helps teachers recognize which students are struggling, grouping students by specific skills for individual or small group instruction. As students complete each skill level, the MyLexia App helps celebrate student progress by notifying teachers when students have earned a certificate of achievement, which can then be emailed to parents or sent to a wireless printer.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Sep 2011
For September 15, 2011: Teachers looking for a free and safe place to share student-produced videos should check out SchoolTube, the largest K-12 moderated video sharing website in the country.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The special live student session will feature acclaimed children's author Jean Craighead George.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Sep 2011
The Legacy Project, acquired by Filmakers Library, is an intimate portrait of legendary American dramatists through interviews conducted by emerging playwrights.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Sep 2011
The new DVD series, intended to teach students about healthy living and essential nutrition topics using a unique and humorous approach, provides supplemental curriculum correlated to nutrition guidelines and standards.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Sep 2011
K-12 Students can now visualize and compare 2010 Census Data with interactive maps.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Sep 2011
Bookstream makes it easy for educators to hop on the internet, upload ebooks and share them with students for anytime reading, the announcement states. It was designed to help educators comply with IDEA 2004 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that require schools to deliver core curriculum in accessible formats to support students with disabilities.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Sep 2011
Quizlet is a flashcards and study games website offered in multiple languages, with visuals and voice in some languages. All flashcards are user-generated. Quizlet contains elements of social networking to promote learning through groups and a blog.
Room 21 is an online learning management system designed to bring education into the 21st century. Students take online classes, and teachers design lessons to capture the spirit of 21st-century learning. Designed as a social learning platform, Room 21 provides tools for parents, students, principals, and teachers to collaborate, and it supports comprehensive skills needed to meet the challenges of the Common Core State Standards.
In Smart Science labs, students interactively collect data from real-world videos. Students predict results and then compare the results to their predictions. Teachers review the students' work.
It is disconcerting when a school or state purchases valuable resources and usage is low. Mary Alice says the start of the school year is a good time to begin overcoming nonuse.
The e-everything revolution charges ahead in the education realm. This month, Victor Rivero reprises and updates the discussion he started last year in his article "E Is for Explosion: E-Readers, Etextbooks, Econtent, Elearning, E-Everything."
For September 1, 2011: As the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the 9/11 Memorial Teach and Learn website can help teachers looking for ways to include these events into their classroom curriculum.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The International Association of School Librarianship (ISLM) offers ideas for taking your classroom global. An interesting one we just got word of, among several projects for International School Library Month, is ISLM's Skype Project.
News/Cool Links - Posted 24 Aug 2011
The company has upgraded its Discovery Education streaming service with a variety of new resources, more efficient navigation and a free, three-week series of webinars to help educators explore how to incorporate the digital resources into their instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2011
To help students understand the events surrounding 9/11 and the aftermath, Pearson is offering teachers, students and parents a free collection of online education lessons and activities.
News/Free Resources - Posted 23 Aug 2011
The new Math Concepts activities provide practice with number sense; basic operations and order of operations; geometry and spatial sense; graphing and managing data; probability; measurement; algebra, patterning, and logic; and fraction concepts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Aug 2011
"Curiosity in the Classroom" engages students with cross-curricular lessons.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Aug 2011
Mythology is the 11th subject area on Shmoop, which now offers more than 750 free online Learning Guides.
News/Free Resources - Posted 12 Aug 2011
The two social studies programs offer digitally robust content designed to help young people make personal connections and build long-term understanding of key social studies concepts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Aug 2011
For August 1, 2011: Kids looking for a summer activity? Brush up on how to tie knots by watching animated illustrations at the user friendly Animated Knots by Grog website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Aug 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The ‘Kids @ Discovery: Creepy Creatures' and ‘Daily Planet: Environment Series' DVD collections offer 19 new titles for K-12 learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Aug 2011
The new version of the technology-based reading curriculum is designed to predict student performance on year-end, grade-level assessments and offers prescriptive recommendations for the intensity of instruction needed to improve each student's performance.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jul 2011
The eLibrary feature program is a keyword search tutorial system that gives students access to more than 4,600 Common Core state standard aligned lessons (language arts, math, science, social studies, and electives) for grades 6-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Jul 2011
Shmoop's Literature Guides and Biographies are written by Ph.D. students from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkley, and other top universities. Shmoop is known for its sense of humor and knack for pop culture. For example, Shmoop introduces students to The Great Gatsby by comparing the novel to the television shows "Real Housewives" and "The Sopranos."
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Jul 2011
In addition to a rich public media library, PBS LearningMedia has content contributed from other publicly funded organizations, including the National Archives, the Library of Congress and NPR, as well as content funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Education, to deliver thousands of resources for use in the classroom and with home-schoolers.
News/Free Resources - Posted 20 Jul 2011
For July 15, 2011: Ready for a summer adventure? Explore prehistoric Native American pictographs and petroglyphs by visiting the numerous links to galleries and museums at Petroglyphs.us.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jul 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
Marydee Ojala, editor of Information Today, Inc.'s ONLINE magazine, posted a NewsBreak recently on Cengage's acquisition of a component of National Geographic that will be of interest to the K-12 community.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 01 Jul 2011
For July 1, 2011: If you haven't had an opportunity to visit the Field Museum in Chicago, you can explore some of its natural history treasures online.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jul 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The company's Interactive Science Techbook replaces print textbooks as a primary instructional resource.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jun 2011
From Britannica Digital Learning, the service enables students in elementary school through college to easily access hundreds of high-quality books on the subjects they're studying.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Jun 2011
For June 15, 2011: If there's one near you, visiting a prairie remnant makes a great field trip. For background, learn about the prairie regions of Ohio, native plants, and Making a Prairie Garden from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Ohio Prairies website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jun 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
For June 1, 2011: Race into summer with a boatload of craft ideas from the Free Nature Crafts website that will keep kids busy outdoors.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jun 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
Through a new initiative, called myWorld TakingITGlobal, educators have immediate access to digitally driven content that makes global collaboration a reality for America's middle schoolers with the click of a mouse, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 May 2011
The new mobile download for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is aligned with the school curriculum and designed for ages 8-12, though, says the announcement, even the youngest and most ophidiophobic kids can enjoy it.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 May 2011
TheGreenInterview.com will be providing Gale with video interviews covering a range of issues connected to our planet, humans on earth, damage to our ecosystem, alternative development ideas, sustainability, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 May 2011
For May 15, 2011: Combine a lesson on nutrition with a hands-on activity in your school yard using these tips and resources on the Vegetable Gardens for Kids at the Growing Raw.com website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 May 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The Environmental Public Health (EPH) collection offers classroom-ready assets for middle and high school students that look at how researchers, communities, and policy makers are working to address health issues resulting from toxins and other factors in our environment.
News/Free Resources - Posted 03 May 2011
Four grade-level winners have been selected, with the winning entries to be published in Study Island online products.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 May 2011
The Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and the College Board have named the 24 middle school and 24 high school state finalists in the third annual Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 May 2011
Johanna argues for and promotes a more flexible approach to teaching and using digital media through fabulous examples from the students of Ross Wallis, head of creative arts at a school in the U.K.
The three brands are running two summer reading challenges designed to be entertaining and easy enough to fit into every family's busy summer schedule. Both challenges, the Scholastic Summer Challenge and the iVillage PBS KIDS Summer Reading Community Challenge, will be available through www.SummerReadingCentral.com.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Apr 2011
For May 1, 2011: Help students hone their math skills with these entertaining games at MathNook. You can choose the level that meets the needs of your students, from basic computation to advanced equations.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Apr 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The program is designed to engage all learners, including students with special needs and English language learners, who have given up on math because they have fallen behind.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Apr 2011
The new Grolier Online is customized for five unique sets of users, and includes an enhanced search engine and access to 120,000 articles arranged by reading level.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Apr 2011
Free access runs through National Library Week, from April 10 to April 24, 2011. Librarians can download the widget to their homepage by visiting www.gale.cengage.com/NLW starting on April 10.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Apr 2011
The integrated online repository of academic video titles is part of Alexander Street's effort to rapidly expand its offerings to more than 10,000 titles in 2011 and to 20,000 by 2013.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Apr 2011
Offering unlimited access to more than 7,800 full-length videos and 88,000 clips, Access Video On Demand gives public library patrons instant access to thousands of acclaimed documentaries, award-winning educational films, and helpful instructional videos in a variety of subject areas from top-quality producers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 31 Mar 2011
An informal survey of superintendents, supervisors, principals and teachers who attended the recent ASCD Annual Conference in San Francisco, Calif., suggests that educators feel they lack the data and instructional tools to deliver effective learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Mar 2011
To provide schools and districts with a more comprehensive eLearning program model for students, the e2020 Inc., Common Core Standards alignment process is manually configured, resulting in more accurate and granular results.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Mar 2011
New on-demand, video-based modules are available that are designed to deepen teacher knowledge of global climate and earth system change, while providing a resource that can also be used with students.
News/Free Resources - Posted 24 Mar 2011
The "Hunt for History" competition offers school library media specialistsand teachers a chance to win valuable prizes—including iPads, online history database subscriptions, and ebook collections—on a history scavenger hunt.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Mar 2011
For March 15, 2011: One of the best resources for earthquake information is from the U.S. Geological Survey: The U.S.G.S. Earthquake Hazards Program.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Mar 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The new READ 180 includes dashboards for students, teachers and school leaders, alignment to Common Core, and new content to engage students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Mar 2011
The four new titles, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Aerospace Engineering: From the Ground Up, Principles of Engineering and Digital Electronics, provide a wealth of content and resources to enhance PLTW's middle and high school STEM curriculum.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Mar 2011
Districts using Lexia's software for essential reading practice, instruction and assessment, will now benefit from CORE's literacy professional development and comprehensive implementation assistance.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Mar 2011
For March 1, 2011: There is an app for that, but which app is the best for kids? Visit Best Kid Apps to read reviews and ratings of iPhone, iPad, and Android applications.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
Gary Price and colleagues will continue to provide valuable information and education resources through this new site as well as FullTextReports.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Mar 2011
Don't Copy That 2 - School Version is a fun-to-watch rap music video that addresses the dangers of engaging in piracy and the importance of respecting the creative output of others.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Feb 2011
This latest version of Lexia's software offers teachers and administrators an enhanced progress monitoring functionality to help support instructional strategies including Response to Intervention (RTI).
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Feb 2011
Get the Math combines entertaining reality-style TV and online challenges to help middle and high school students see the relevance of math in exciting careers and develop algebraic thinking skills.
News/Free Resources - Posted 16 Feb 2011
The agreement with BrainPOP will allow BrainPOP's animated content to operate seamlessly with Turning Technologies' student response systems for immediate assessment of student learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Feb 2011
By making Discovery Education digital services compatible with Sky, Learning.com users can now access the company's content using one single username and password.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Feb 2011
The program offers a personalized literacy environment that provides access to an integrated library of digital books with multimedia supports, customized to a student's interest and reading ability.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Feb 2011
Ten finalists will be selected to receive an all-expense paid trip to the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minn. to compete in the final challenge in October, 2011. The winner will receive $25,000 and the title of "America's Top Young Scientist."
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Feb 2011
The StudySync program combines classic and modern texts, digital media, mobile technology, and social networking designed to inspire students to achieve higher levels of critical thinking and academic collaboration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Feb 2011
For February 1, 2011: Enhance your high school physics lessons with the information and video demonstrations from HyperPhysics, an award winning site hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Georgia State University.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Feb 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The 40-DVD library brings science and technology content to life for middle and high schoolers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2011
The partnership will expand the netTrekker Search digital resource offering to bring real world relevance to STEM education.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jan 2011
For January 15, 2011: BrainPOP has hundreds of original animated movies covering a wide range of academic subjects. Now there's a BrainPOP app offering access to the free "movie of the day."
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jan 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
Science Power from World Book Classroom is an interactive program that brings science alive for students. It includes multimedia, teacher guides and tests for each lesson. Lessons can be presented to whole groups, small groups, or individuals.
Online. Blended. Mobile. 21 st-century. Collaborative. Project-based. Any way you label it, learning is changing. We're now settling into an exciting new paradigm of connected, engaged learning. To get a sense of all this, take a look at the sites, services, and resources we've noted right here in this article.
For January 1, 2011: The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, from the Clackamas County (Oregon) Heritage Partners, brings history alive through reenactments, videos, and print material. Historical information about the role of black pioneers in the settlement of Oregon is very informative.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jan 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
For December 15, 2010: Ready to spark scientific minds with some fun activities? Then, visit the Science Kids website, where you will find experiments on a variety of topics such as electricity, aerodynamics, and chemical reactions.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Dec 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
Each edition of the Discovery Education Science Techbook series is built from the ground up to address individual state standards and is intended to serve as the new primary instructional resource for Indiana and Louisiana elementary and middle schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2010
For December 1, 2010: At the Energy Quest website from the California Energy Commission, discover interesting facts about energy through a virtual interface.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Dec 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
"Mission US" is a new series of free online games designed to let middle school students learn and "live" history. The first game mission, "For Crown or Colony?," focuses on events leading up to the American Revolution.
News/Free Resources - Posted 18 Nov 2010
Science Power, first introduced this summer, is a core component of the World Book Classroom collection of content-rich, interactive digital supplemental learning resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Nov 2010
The first release, available now in the Apple App Store, gives students mobile access to Tutor.com's library of 9,000 online lessons, worksheets, videos and test-prep resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Nov 2010
Charles Doe reviews TimeMAPS, a money management and life skills program, a complete course or a supplement, intended to teach "personal finance literacy" defined as the knowledge needed to make responsible financial decisions.
Alice Kurtz reviews Shmoop, a free portal of digital resources, primarily for literature and social studies topics, that help students relate subjects being studied in school to their daily lives.
For November 1, 2010: At the USDA Forest Service's and Ad Council's Discover the Forest website find a forest or park by typing in your zip code, then start exploring!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Nov 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
There's a quiet—or not so quiet—shift happening in school libraries across America. The social media revolution—reflected in all manner of shiny iPhone apps, blogs, Nings, Facebook pages, and other social networking tools, sites, and platforms—is real, and it's running like a loud line of students straight through the stacks, into the common areas, taking a sharp turn, and heading right on up to the teacher librarian/media specialist's desk. Are you ready for it? In this article, Victor Rivero addresses issues, answers, and resources to help.
Comic-form stories specifically designed to teach American history on the iPad and iPhone are now available from Chester Comix LLC.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Oct 2010
The bundle includes the recently announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9 software, as well as Adobe Acrobat X. Adobe Contribute CS5 and Adobe Soundbooth CS5 software are also included in the collection.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2010
The SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboard supports multiuser writing and common multitouch gestures currently recognized in Microsoft Windows 7 and Mac Snow Leopard.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2010
SCAN challenges students to examine issues from different points of view using authentic scenarios and role-playing. The online tool includes built-in steps designed to focus online and in-classroom discussions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Oct 2010
For October 15, 2010: To students who think the field of physics is "mired with images of weird old men electrocuting themselves, strange equations, esoteric concepts, indecipherable books, etc.," the creators of the Fear of Physics website say: "NO WAY. Give it a chance!"
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Oct 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
The newly produced Series Books Curriculum Resource Center includes hours of original audio interviews with popular series authors and hundreds of online resources to support the enjoyment of more than 40 favorite series—including fantasy, mystery, realistic fiction, and biography.
News/Free Resources - Posted 11 Oct 2010
Enhancements in version 4.0 offer virtual student response systems, digital flashcards, customizable assessments, and a redesigned teacher page.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Oct 2010
This next-generation offering, an online resource developed to meet the needs of today's internet-savvy researchers, evolved from, and will replace, the Biography Resource Center database.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Sep 2010
For September 15, 2010: Parents, kids, and teens will discover a wealth of information reviewed by medical and health professionals at the KidsHealth website, from the Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
With almost 200 literacy skills embedded in curriculum packs for elementary, middle and high school students, the highly interactive DimensionL instructional software introduces and reinforces such topics as language conventions, parts of speech, reading and writing processes, spelling, and vocabulary.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Sep 2010
Victor Rivero reviews Cognite from Follett Software Co., a digital learning environment that integrates discovery and organization tools, collaboration, and communication.
The interactive ebook, designed to give students the information they need to overcome difficulties encountered while working on homework or assignment problems, provides them the opportunity to review exactly the concept or technique they are struggling with, work through an example, practice, and then continue with their homework.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Sep 2010
For September 1, 2010: Constitution Day is coming up, and the Library of Congress provides excellent related resources for teachers through its Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention web page.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
One of the most challenging areas in education today is helping students navigate through the ever-increasing world of information. There are many estimates out there on how fast the internet is growing, but everyone agrees it is the fastest-growing technology humankind has ever created! To get a handle on this 21st-century repository of information, librarians, teachers, and students need to harness the power and flexibility of the more-powerful, flexible, and varied online tools being developed … tools that can help them find, evaluate, and organize the megaloads of information out there. This applies not only to high school students but to younger students as well.
In this article, Victor Rivero draws on educators' and educational technology product developers' thinking that he picked up during a visit to this summer's ISTE conference. Victor cruised the show, talking with attendees and presenters, as well as with representatives from organizations such as the Partnership for 21st-Century Skills and The Software & Information Industry Association, to get their opinions on 21st century education.
All of these enrichments are available for customers immediately, and the standards-aligned programs qualify for federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2010
For August 15, 2010: Search for exemplary lessons and information by topic or keyword at the free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
Shmoop's free online Pre-Algebra Learning Guides contain hundreds of topics with succinct explanations, diagrams, interactive examples, practice problems, and real-world applications.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Aug 2010
For August 1, 2010: Discover history in your own backyard by exploring a local cemetery, with the help of the website The Cemetery: History Written in Stone. Cemeteries are great primary sources, with lots more than dates and names.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Aug 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
A new and improved version of Facts On File's World Atlas, this reference site takes a global approach to facilitate the study of countries, places, peoples, and geography concepts and skills, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jul 2010
New agreements with BBC, Espresso Education/Channel 4, Dr. Lodge McCammon, CBS News, Smarterville/Reading Rainbow, and Visual Classroom will add robust educational media to Discovery's digital content services.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jul 2010
The core subject map—the result of a collaboration between P21 and leading art, dance, music, theater, and visual arts associations—provides first-of-their-kind classroom examples of integrating the 'four Cs' into arts courses.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Jul 2010
For July 15, 2010: Spies are in the news, so visit the International Spy Museum if you're in Washington, D.C. this summer! Next best thing? Hit their International Spy Museum website! Be watching over your shoulder, though.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jul 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
The 47 semifinalists were selected based on their science communication skills exhibited in a short video explaining the science behind issues millions of Americans face in everyday life, including preventing the spread of germs, ensuring food safety and sun protection.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Jul 2010
This month, Mary Alice offers advice and discusses tools, such as Edmodo and VoiceThread, that will help you and your students do lots more than they have in the past with primary source materials they have gathered.
For this story, Victor researched and describes a couple of real-life ways in which curriculum content is moving in the direction of an all-electronic format. He looks first at a school district's move to acquire interactive, digital textbooks from publishers in place of traditional paper-based books. Then he discusses Discovery Education's adaptation of its rich content into digital "basal textbook" format—but "basal textbooks" like you've never seen before!
In "E Is for Explosion …" Victor Rivero sets the scene with an overview of recent happenings in the world of e-reading devices as well as etexts, then focuses in on more than 15 kinds of electronic texts and content and their producers/providers.
This advanced version of Lexia's software features new progress monitoring tools that will give educators longitudinal, standards-based data on students' mastery of reading skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jun 2010
Conceived and developed in conjunction with Phunware, the U.S. Geography by Discovery Education App delivers a fun and educational solution to engage students in learning about United States geography, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Jun 2010
For June 15, 2010: Create your own games using the templates provided by ClassTools. Add your own content and images, then copy the link to your blog or website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jun 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
For June 1, 2010: This summer have your students hone their keyboarding skills with Dance Mat Typing. It's fun, easy to use, and geared for ages 7-11.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jun 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
The Teaching Systems Algebra video series is designed to deliver engaging math content for secondary students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 May 2010
The new pilot program combines more than 20,000 ebooks from leading publishers under a simultaneous, multi-user access subscription model; free access for local public high schools; do-it-yourself epublishing tools; and complimentary marketing services.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 May 2010
Team 'No1Idling' from Michigan takes the middle school top honor; California's Team 'Planet Blue and Green' and Illinois' Team 'Zero Waste Lunch Experts' are the elementary school winners.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 May 2010
Referencia Latina is a definitive general reference resource for the rapidly growing native Spanish-speaking population in the United States covering issues in Latin America and Spain, as well as US and global affairs.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 May 2010
The FTC's new advertising literacy campaign was launched to help children understand the ads they see and become smarter consumers.
News/Free Resources - Posted 04 May 2010
Shmoop ebooks for topics in literature, poetry, U.S. history, civics, music, and biography are now available.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 May 2010
In this age of technology-enabled openness, how much protecting is too much? And, going further, if our students are completely isolated from the benefits of the information age, will they ever learn? In this month's Tools for Learning feature, Victor Rivero examines some products, services, and solutions that address the question "How can our students stay safe and secure while simultaneously getting access to rich learning resources—and continue to fall in love with learning?"
Charles Doe takes a look at the Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS Digital Camera.
Subscription web services for education offer a fascinating variety of products and approaches for teachers, parents, students, and school systems. Some services provide grade book and student information systems, others offer assessment and learning management platforms, and some feature classroom resources including lesson plans, videos, digital tools, activities, and games. This article takes a look at a representative sampling of subscription-based websites that are appropriate for use in K-12 classrooms.
Alice Kurtz discusses "Lost Nation: The Ioway," an interactive DVD that allows students to explore the plight of one tribe of Native Americans as Europeans moved westward across the North American continent.
Susan Hixson reviews School Town, an online collaborative learning resource.
For May 1, 2010: The huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a news maker that can be turned into a quick inquiry lesson for students. Try a lesson that Cyberbee has used with teachers and students to think about the best way to clean-up an oil spill. Then, visit NOAA's National Ocean Service website page.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 May 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
ProQuest's eLibrary Science provides online science content, tools, videos, and manipulatives designed for use with both mainstream and AP (advanced placement) science courses.
The software suite includes Creative Suite 5 Master Collection, Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium, and Design Standard.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Apr 2010
Release 9.1 of Blackboard Learn emphasizes social learning and student engagement, and brings upgrades for K-12 and former WebCT Clients.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Apr 2010
Lexile measures will be assigned specifically for content in World Book Student and World Book Discover, designed for middle- and high-school students; World Book Kids, designed for elementary-school students; and the Early World of Learning site for preschoolers and emerging readers in the primary grades.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Apr 2010
Combining its intervention software program, the Academy of READING, with print intervention tools, the company's three targeted solutions are designed to help build reading skills for life.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Apr 2010
The NAMTC Digital Marketplace is powered by the EduTone Xchange platform, enabling education service agencies to purchase, provision, and access on demand the web-based applications and content offered in the Digital Marketplace.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Apr 2010
For April 15, 2010: Meet the invertebrates through art and photography with help from watersheds.org, the website of the Bryant Watershed Education Project in south central Missouri.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Apr 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
Alexander Street Press is offering a "sneak peek" look at its American History in Video online collection, free through April 30.
News/Free Resources - Posted 29 Mar 2010
The free professional development event on April 24th will focus on integrating educational technologies into classroom instruction.
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Mar 2010
Designed by special educators and based on visual learning theory, the Literacy Suite is designed to build reading, writing, and science skills by combining students' own images, videos, and photos with rich learning content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Mar 2010
Sally Finley reviews Pearson's Interactive Science Middle School Program, an online science program that uses grade-level textbook and online resources.
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.
The web-based ST Math: K-5 Integrated Instructional System includes enhanced math content from MIND's ST Math software, as well as new features for math teaching and learning, assessment, and reporting.
Presented by a cadre of nationally known speakers with more than 20 years of product experience, Capstone's professional development program incorporates best practices with research-based products on a range of dynamic topics.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Mar 2010
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
For February 15, 2010: Introduce your middle school math students to topics that align with NCTM standards with the click of a mouse at the subscription-based Brainingcamp website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Feb 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
The interactive grammar lessons on Promethean Planet are designed to help students develop critical language arts and writing skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 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
Lexia Learning Systems has expanded its offering of "Lexia Lessons" and "Lexia Skill Builders" as a part of its Lexia Reading program. The program includes targeted practice, embedded assessment, scripted lesson plans, and offline practice to help students at all reading levels achieve proficiency.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2010
For February 1, 2010: Want to create a list of high-quality children's literature or find out if a book has won an award? Search librarian Lisa Bartle's Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Feb 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
The Challenge offers a chance for middle school students to win $50,000 in U.S. savings bonds.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2010
PreK-12 educators can enter the PBS Teachers Innovation Awards program through March 12 for a chance to win a behind-the-scenes trip to the premier annual PBS event and other prizes.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 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
This newest version of the online standards mastery program offers enhanced assessment, instruction, communication and collaboration tools to help schools maximize their return on investment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2010
With Time To Know, the teacher guides the class using an engaging curriculum that is integrated with tools for classroom management, planning, assessment, and collaboration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jan 2010
From the mechanics of writing and grammar to style and research, the Writer's Reference Center online covers the fundamentals of quality writing and provides vocabulary-building reference dictionaries.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 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
The companies have partnered to create the Heinle Community, intended as a safe and secure virtual workspace designed for learners to practice English through collaboration on projects in an authentic learning environment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jan 2010
With its new features, Learning Plans on Demand is a more powerful assessment tool that ties directly into hundreds of embedded tutorials for individualized learning, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Jan 2010
The newest version of Inspiration's flagship software is designed to build 21st century communication and thinking skills, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jan 2010
In a year's time, Charlie Doe's district has placed interactive whiteboards in about 30% of their elementary classrooms and, in doing so, has made interactive whiteboard technology the envy of the district. That sparked his interest, so for this roundup, he takes a brief look at several products that offer a variety of approaches, from full whiteboards to equipment that makes a standard dry-erase whiteboard become interactive.
Educators have begun to shun the monolithic basal approach to teaching reading, opting for a more robust mix of specialized print and technology-based resources that provide intensive, dynamic, motivating methods that children embrace and enjoy. These print and technology tools must use student data as a cornerstone of an approach that intensifies and individualizes instruction. Find out more from Lexia Learning's Bob McCabe.
Podcasting, a morph of the words "iPod" and "broadcast," was first coined by U.K. journalist Ben Hammersley. (In fact, it was declared to be 2005's Word of the Year by The New Oxford American Dictionary, edging out both "Sudoku" and "trans fat" for the philological nod.) The digital medium quickly found its way into the classroom, and why not? After all, it's free, easy, and accessible, and it has the ability to power up education for students from kindergarten to college.
According to the SIIA's Vision K-20 survey, the lowest level for its Five Measures of Progress is in the use of technology-based assessment tools, with an average score of just 46%. Clearly, there's room for improvement! And since knowing more about these tools is a good first step to using them to your advantage, Victor Rivero brings you a sampling of some of the more recent excellent products and services you may find useful when it comes to gaining much-needed assistance with assessment.
Sally Finley reviews Achiever!, a student assessment program.
Susan Hixson takes a look at it's learning, an online learning platform for collaboration, planning, authoring, and the delivery of course materials and courses.
Charles Doe reviews the Read:OutLoud6 text reader from Don Johnston, Inc.
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
To accommodate various presentation styles and technology integrations, TurningPoint AnyWhere combined with Turning's ResponseCard keypads or ResponseWare, a web-based polling application, creates a wireless response and voting system allowing presenters to ask interactive questions within their preferred presentation application.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Dec 2009
World Book’s new approach to reader’s theater provides educators a new tool for building reading fluency and content comprehension.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Nov 2009
For November 15, 2009: The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working worldwide to reconnect children with nature.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Nov 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Available for purchase in January 2010, Interactive Science enables middle school students to read, write, draw, graph, and self-assess all in one place, actively engaging students with real-world content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Nov 2009
Sally Finley reviews Grzimek's Animal Life, an online animal reference database from Gale Cengage Learning.
Charles Doe reviews RAPS 360, a reading assessment program designed to identify problem areas in all aspects of reading, including phonics, visual and auditory discrimination, word meaning and recognition, fluency, comprehension, eye tracking, and more.
The new Adobe Digital School Collection for K–12 students and educators provides a software bundle that includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, Adobe Premiere Elements 8, Adobe Contribute CS4, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, and Adobe Soundbooth CS4.
Sonja Plummer-Morgan and Lisa Neal-Shaw are public librarians from Maine who have explored the use of virtual worlds with very young—and not-so-very young—children. They have found sites very helpful in encouraging curiosity and enabling tech-learning behaviors such as online communication, collaboration, composition, traditional as well as 21st-century literacies, and more, to the extent that we wanted to share their insights with our readers in K–12 education settings.
For November 1, 2009: Need ideas for a science project? Look no further than Science Buddies, a project of The Kenneth Lafferty Hess Family Charitable Foundation.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Nov 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, MySpace, Ning: How do we help our students learn the social skills needed to understand what it really means to live and participate in a global community? How do we incorporate this into our schools and classrooms? How do we keep ourselves and our students safe? Social networking sites are mainstream media for many tweens, teens, and adults. There are even social networking sites that attract kids as young as 5 years old. This is the reality of the world we live in, and schools should reflect this reality.
The collection includes Photoshop Elements 8 and Premiere Elements 8 to help educators enhance teaching and learning of digital literacy skills, and now offers netbook compatibility support for Photoshop Elements 8 (Windows) and Adobe Photoshop Elements for the Mac platform.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2009
The latest edition of the collection development resource for school libraries lists over 8,000 recommended books, 2,000 more than the previous edition. It also features "short list" indicators for the "most highly recommended" works and more specific grade levels indicators than the previous edition.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Sep 2009
Charles Doe reviews the Study Buddy Handheld Tutor, a device that offers electronic multiple choice practice opportunities for students of all ages.
Sally Finley reviews Classworks Web Edition, an online subscription service that provides individualized standards-based instruction in math, reading, language arts, and science.
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.
Collaboration is one of the defining characteristics of the 21st century, but many educators are still searching for ways to embrace this idea in their schools. Some technologies facilitate the creation of a collaborative learning environment better than others, but there are a number of technology tools that can lead to collaborative student and teacher engagement while also addressing budgetary and infrastructure issues. This article offers suggestions for overcoming barriers using simple tools that foster complex thinking.
For August 15, 2009: Explore the wonders of astronomy at the Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground website from the Smithsonian Institution through a variety of activities designed for elementary teachers and students.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Sally Finley reviews Aha!Science, a supplemental program of instruction, lessons, games, simulations, journaling, activities, and quizzes for grades 3–5 focusing on life science, Earth and space science, and physical science.
Alice Kurtz reviews Discovery Education streaming Plus, a web-based subscription servce that offers digital content and a media resource library service.
The JourneyEd Academic eStore Network (AEN) provides access to more than 15,000 online stores offering thousands of top-tier software and technology products—including programs published by Microsoft and Adobe—at discounts of up to 85% of retail prices to verified education buyers.
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
The resources—websites offering a wide variety of content for all subjects in grades K-12—are presented by the nonprofit organization as it celebrates its eleventh anniversary.
News/Free Resources - Posted 01 May 2009
Alice Kurtz reviews eLibrary, a web-based collection of periodicals, images, learning resources, and teacher tools.
Sally Finley reviews LabQuest Library, a LabQuest-focused toolkit that includes a lab creator, lab organizer, and links to LabQuest device upgrades.
Saywire offers a combination of safe social technology and secure permission-based controls designed to provide “walled garden” social learning networks for K–12 education.
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.
Designed for at-risk middle and high school students, the new online diagnostic-prescriptive remediation service delivers a cycle of quizzes followed by personalized review and practice to help students catch up in math.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Apr 2009
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
Tween's program is designed specifically for the sixth through eighth grade. Included are such skills as binder organization, using a planner, organizing a homework space, using a rubric, self-advocacy for middle school, remembering daily responsibilities, correcting poor homework habits, long term project management, and understanding grade averaging.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2009
For April 1, 2009: At the Arbor Day Foundation website, discover the history of Arbor Day plus a host of ways to incorporate it into the curriculum.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Apr 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Developed through a partnership with Montgomery (Md.) College's Computer Gaming and Simulation program and designed in cooperation with NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System for students at the fourth through seventh grade level, "WaterLife: Where Rivers Meet the Sea" provides science instruction through a series of challenges and animations.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Mar 2009
Designed for grades 3-5, Aha!Science gives teachers new tools to teach physical, earth and space, and life sciences with science games, simulations, and instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 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
Alice Kurtz reviews World Book Student, the redesigned and upgraded version of the World Book Online Reference Center.
Charles Doe reviews PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection, a web-based instructional and professional development resource.
Susan Hixson reviews Learning Plans on Demand, an online program that provides teaching tools for differentiating instruction, constructs response assessments, and offers tutorials and practice activities.
The Learn360 video streaming service for K–12 education now offers a My Learn360 homepage designed to individualize the user experience for educators.
Direct Instruction eSuite is a set of online tools designed to integrate technology into instruction to save daily planning time for teachers and increase student engagement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Feb 2009
Saywire offers a combination of safe social technology and secure permission-based controls designed to provide “walled garden” social learning networks for K-12 schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Feb 2009
Using the immersive characteristics of digital games, Labyrinth blends a storyline with multi-level puzzle play to build pre-algebra skills in several core areas: proportions - fractions and ratios; variables and equations; and numbers and operations.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Feb 2009
The print-on-demand library of thousands of activities across the PreK–6+ school curriculum marks its third year by offering school-site subscriptions that provide educators with the resources they need to support the varied needs of today’s students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jan 2009
Inspiration Software offers a free Webcast on Jan. 29 titled “Using Visual Learning Techniques to Improve Academic Performance with Inspiration.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Jan 2009
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) offers the fourth installment in its 2008-2009 Internet & Education Webcast series with “Long Tail Learners: How Technology Transforms Learning” on Jan. 21, 1-2 p.m., Eastern Time.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2009
kidthing and the National Education Association (NEA) extended the submission deadline for the “Dear Mr. President” project to Jan. 27, 2009.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Jan 2009
In an effort to foster the development of the next generation of scientists, Discovery Education and 3M have teamed up again to reward students for their science acumen and curiosity, while encouraging them to share that passion by creatively communicating their findings.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Jan 2009
The quarterly challenge gives kids aged 8 to 14 a chance to hone their writing skills as they compete for prizes with hundreds of young authors.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2009
Energy is an essential and, at times, a controversial subject. It is important that students learn about energy sources and the impact they have in their own lives, and Linda Joseph's Cyberbee guides you this month to web resources to help them do just that.
There are many approaches—and many acronyms—related to ESL studies. Whichever approach or aspect is being considered, ESL resources have increased enormously with the introduction of computer and related electronic technologies. Charles Doe’s article offers some examples of the many fine possibilities available, with a mention of some of their more interesting features.
For January 1, 2009: Need fast facts about energy sources, how they were/are formed, and their environmental impact? Start out at the federal government’s Energy Information Administration EIA Energy Kids Page.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jan 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Sally Finley reviews Adaptive Curriculum, an online library of middle school math and science lessons aligned to national and state standards.
Charles Doe takes a look at Teachscape XL, a Web-based digital database with a search engine and tools to create learning materials.
Susan Hixson reviews Type to Learn 4, a keyboarding program designed for K-12 students at a variety of skill levels.
Greenovation, a sustainable lighting system upgrade with a companion curriculum, turns the classroom itself into a teaching tool.
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.
H.W. Wilson announced the electronic and print publication of the “Tenth Book of Junior Authors & Illustrators,” the newest volume in the series designed to acquaint readers with the creators of outstanding young adult and children’s books.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Dec 2008
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
The 2008-2009 Inspiration Software Inspired Visual Learning Awards program will recognize 15 educators and their students for creatively using visual learning in their classrooms.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Nov 2008
For November 15, 2008: Try out BookHooks and introduce your younger students to a place where they can share their book reports with other readers in a safe environment.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Nov 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
Google Apps Education Edition offers a variety of email, calendar, and collaboration tools directly from a computer browser.
Alice Kurtz reviews Timeliner XE, a software program designed to organize data into visual multimedia diagrams such as timelines, sequences, and cycles.
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
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
Welcome to Banned Books Week—Sept. 27 to Oct. 4, 2008.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Sep 2008
The American Association of School Librarians and the Children’s Book Council released the names of the contributors selected for the AASL Knowledge Quest journal’s “Meet the Author/Illustrator” column during the 2008-2009 school year.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2008
The New York Times/Carnegie Corporation of New York “I Love My Librarian” award program is now open—for the first time—to school library media specialists.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2008
The “Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge” encourages students to create "green solutions"; prizes include regional and national recognition, cash, and an appearance on Discovery's Planet Green television network.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 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
For September 15, 2008: Learn about Henry David Thoreau and his writings at The Thoreau Reader, a comprehensive website featuring online versions of many of his books and lots of links and annotations about his literary works.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
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
Teachers' Domain is a digital library of free media online resources for teachers, and online professional development courses created by public television station WGBH.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Sep 2008
Champion of IDEAS Blue Level, the second part of Ballard & Tighe’s Champion of IDEAS program, is now available for intermediate English language instruction in middle and high schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 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.
In the July/August issue of MMIS, Kelly Czarnecki started her "tour of the possibilities" of using virtual environments in K-12 education with a look at two projects based on/in Teen Second Life—Science in Second Life, and Suffern Middle School in Second Life. Here's the rest of the tour, visting Whyville, the River City Project, Quest Atlantis, and McClarin's Adventures.
Sally Finley reviews the NXT Sensor Adapter, a device that enables a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robotics system to use sensor-based controls.
Charles Doe reviews the Bamboo Fun Pen Tablet, a computer input device.
Charles Doe reviews Animation-ish, a computer program designed to help students create animations.
The ResourceShelf folks recently briefly noted the relaunch of the AskKids search engine and interface, something we’ve been anticipating for quite a while now.
News/Cool Links - Posted 29 Aug 2008
ABC-CLIO offers a new free online History & the Headlines resource, “Presidential Elections: In History & Today.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 29 Aug 2008
Innovation First, Inc. and Autodesk, Inc. offer a new curriculum now included in the VEX Robotics Design System Classroom Lab Kits.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Aug 2008
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 2009 awards program includes more than $45,000 in funding for awards to AASL members.
News/Free Resources - Posted 11 Aug 2008
The 2009 application for the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National School Library Media Program of the Year award is now available online.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Aug 2008
Alice Kurtz takes a look at two new web sites from the Library of Congress.
Rhonda Clevenson reviews Smart Talk Español, an interactive learning device designed to help students develop vocabulary, oral language, and word recognition skills.
Charles Doe reviews Writing Roadmap 2.0, an online essay scoring tool designed to give students practice in building writing skills.
The 2007 edition of the Horizon Report by the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative predicted that in 2 to 3 years, virtual worlds will greatly impact teaching, learning, and creative expression. These scalable and highly creative environments are being used by educators all over the country in a variety of settings and in a variety of ways. This article offers a look at projects using virtual worlds that are currently “happening” in K–12 schools, what we’re learning from them, and what we can continue to learn by charging full steam ahead with these fascinating educational tools.
Sally Finley reviews MIND Research Institute Algebra Readiness, a program that provides a visual learning approach for a comprehensive algebra readiness curriculum for grades 6-12.
Alie Kurtz reivews Learn360, a video streaming service for K-12.
Charles Doe reviews Lexia Reading v5, a collection of three software programs combined with management functions.
Susan Hixson reviews Kidspiration 3, the latest version of the cross-curricular visual learning program for grades K-5.
WriteToLearn 5.0 updates the Web-based learning tool for developing writing and reading comprehensions skills with new text-to-speech capabilities and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Mar 2008
Bookshare.org and Don Johnston, Inc. are participating in a partnership to provide qualified print disabled students with a free text reader to access electronic books from the Bookshare.org library, beginning in September 2008.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Mar 2008
ISTE releases new books on RSS and PowerPoint with an educator perspective.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Mar 2008
Dynamic Literacy released Foundations, the first of two series in the WordBuild Vocabulary Development System.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Mar 2008
Sally Finley reviews LabQuest, a handheld data collection tool that can be used as a stand-alone device or a computer interface.
Susan Hixson reviews DOMA, an Internet-based supplemental math assessment program for use with grades K-12.
Charles Doe reviews WordBuild Elements Level 1, a spiraling vocabulary curriculum for grades 3-12.
Sally Finley reviews Evolver Pre-Algebra for grades 6-12.
The new Teacher One Stop offers documents, tools, and multimedia files with search capabilities, technologies, and resources designed to streamline and simplify educators’ planning activities.
For March 1, 2008: If you are looking for information on the hot topic of biotechnology, for an annotated list of books about agriculture, or if you just need to know the date for National Cream Puff Day or International Pickles Week (!), then look no further than the American Farm Bureau Foundation's Educating for Agriculture website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
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
The SMART document camera enables teachers to display detailed images and video of any physical object and instantly incorporate that material into digital lessons using the SMART Board interactive whiteboard and Notebook collaborative learning software.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Feb 2008
The first GenevaLogic Visionary Grants were awarded by the GenevaLogic Foundation in late January.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Feb 2008
The company's new EasyTech lessons and activities support middle school students to learn critical skills in blogs, podcasts, online communicating and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Feb 2008
For February 1, 2008: It's winter, and the height of the cold and flu season, time to meet The Scrub Club in their quest to encourage effective hand washing to avoid infections.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Feb 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
The new, free website helps teachers and parents match the right book to the right child based on four different reading level systems, interests, and previously enjoyed books.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Jan 2008
SMART Technologies announced the addition of 100 SMART-created lesson activities to the Curriki global education and learning community, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing free education materials.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jan 2008
The new online system uses interactive math and science activities to boost academic achievement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2008
The new Pokémon Learning League program provides lessons on internet safety and media literacy for lower and upper elementary level students and includes teacher and parent resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2008
The MIND Research Institute’s visual math courseware programs for grades K-12 are now available in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jan 2008
enVisionMATH combines digital animations and visual learning to build an innovative program for 21st century learners.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jan 2008
Vernier Software & Technology offers free hands-on workshops designed to help educators learn ways to integrate computer and handheld data collection technology into any science or math curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 23 Jan 2008
To help celebrate the recently announced ALA Awards (Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, and others), Teachingbooks.net has announced it is offering free access to a great batch of original short movies and readings by the award winners.
News/Free Resources - Posted 17 Jan 2008
Reinventing Project Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age offers educators a practical guide for maximizing the benefits of project-based learning in today’s technology-rich learning environment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Jan 2008
Projects should be designed to increase knowledge of scientific phenomena and provide opportunities for the application of that knowledge to environmental issues relevant to the students. Approximately $4 million in grants will be awarded.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 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
Educational video publisher School Specialty Media offers its new online Learn360 video streaming service for K-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2008
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.
Rhonda Clevenson reviews GeoSafari Quiz Bowl, an interactive electronic educational game that simulates a television game show in the classroom.
Charles Doe reviews Fluent Reading Trainer (FLRT), a Web-based program that helps students increase reading speed while improving or maintaining reading comprehension.
Susan Hixson reviews Knowledge Adventure Activity Builder, an online teacher tool.
Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space, founded Sally Ride Science in 2001 to create programs and products designed to educate, entertain, engage, and inspire.
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
Soliloquy Reading Assistant 4.1 updates the reading fluency program with easier software installation, support of Windows Vista, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Nov 2007
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
With end-of-grade, back-to-basics, multiple-choice testing for the masses and mechanical instruction methods, there’s growing concern that children are not learning to problem solve as much as they are mastering memorization of isolated facts in order to answer test questions. Yet, when they get home from school, children eagerly devour new information and concepts through the virtual environments of video games. In what I call a stealth-learning environment, children develop skills that connect and manipulate information in the virtual worlds of video games without really knowing that they’re learning.
Sally Finley reviews Tool Factory Podcasting, a Windows-based program that provides the tools needed to create and publish podcasts.
Charles Doe reviews a DVD-based program designed to illustrate editing techniques and principles.
Susan Hixson reviews Rapid Resources, an online teacher's tool for differentiating instruction.
Charles Doe reviews the tool package that includes Encarta Premium, Encarta Kids, Microsoft Math, Learning Essentials and more.
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) released “Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms,” a book written by Grace E. Smith and Stephanie Throne.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Oct 2007
Don Johnston Inc. announced the release of SOLO Writing Coach, a writing implementation framework designed for at-risk students writing at or below proficiency levels.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2007
Literature Criticism Online provides access to hundreds of volumes from 10 Gale literary series.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 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
FileMaker Pro Basics provides a comprehensive downloadable set of free training materials designed to help K-12 educators learn the essentials of creating FileMaker Pro databases.
News/Free Resources - Posted 21 Sep 2007
InspireData 1.5 is the first update to Inspiration Software’s InspireData program designed to help students in grades 4-12 explore and understand data.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Sep 2007
The Sally Ride Science blog features a series of science-themed entries designed to help elementary and middle school teachers illustrate real-world applications of science concepts and spark classroom discussions.
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Sep 2007
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.
John Drag, Jr. reviews Simon S.I.O. (Sounds It Out), a tutor-led phonics intervention program for students of all ages who may be experiencing difficulty in mastering phonological awareness.
Sally Finley reviews Holt Virtual Investigations, a science simulation available in middle school and high school editions.
Charles Doe reviews TeacherFilebox.com, an online collection of instructional resources for PreK-6 educators.
Susan Hixson reviews World Book Advanced, designed for use in high school and beyond. This database also has been used successfully in middle schools.
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
The “social networking” generation is writing, and this writing is important to them. Schools must find a way to merge these informal writing activities with the writing activities found in classrooms. It’s possible that the use of social networking technologies with classroom writing programs could make writing in school interesting enough to motivate students to tackle the more formal writing needed for college, business, and other activities in adult life. Charles Doe's latest "Look At ... " article examines some of the software and Webware possibilities inspired by social computing as well as some of the newer computer- and Internet-based writing tools.
Susan Hixson reviews an online math curriculum for middle school students.
Sally Finley reviews Science Online, a comprehensive subscripton database from Facts On File, Inc.
The software provides 2,400 explicitly leveled vocabulary words that build background knowledge and contribute to improved reading comprehension. These “Core Literacy” vocabulary words are reinforced with high-quality audio pronunciations of all words and definitions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jun 2007
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 Franklin Institute Science Museum presents online materials designed to extend the experience of the museum’s King Tut exhibit with activities geared to the K-12 science curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Jun 2007
ST Math Algebra Readiness, for students in grades 6 to 8, takes a building-block approach to providing mathematical problems and exercises aligned to the foundational math concepts and skills needed to learn algebra.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 May 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
Charles Doe reviews The Bridge of Vocabulary, a program that includes a book with 100 vocabulary activities and a companion CD-ROM that provides more than 300 additional activities.
Sally Finley reviews InspireData, database software focused on the concepts of visual learning and data literacy.
Susan Hixson reviews Study Island, an online program that delivers curriculum content and assessment features tied to state standards.
This month, ngm.com examines the global fishing crisis from a number of perspectives.
News/Free Resources - Posted 01 Apr 2007
Don Johnston’s Start-to-Finish series now includes "Giant Hurricanes and Tornadoes," available in a variety of formats, including paperback book, computer book, and audio book.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Mar 2007
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