Nonfiction LIteracy and Current Events

I heard of a great web site on Edmodo this morning. The website is Newsela. This has informational text and current events in several different subjects. This web site is free, has leveled reading passages, and built in quizzes (for some of the articles). 

Teachers need to register for this site, but they can then create a classroom for their students to join. The terms of service state that you must be 18 to create your own account, but teachers can create accounts for students under 18 with parental permission.

On several articles there is an anchor with a number beside it. This is the ELA Common Core Anchor Standards. When you choose an article to read (teachers who create a class can assign articles to students; read about it in the FAQ section), on the right hand side is a blue bar. This allows you to differentiate between Lexile Levels for your students. Not all articles have quizzes attached to them, but those that do give you the grade level and standard that it meets. These articles would be good for grades 3 - 12.

If you would like to know more about Newsela, they have a wonderful FAQ section.

image created by Dorene Bates at wordle.net

Wonderopolis has a new look!

And new features ...

You can search by Common Core Standards ...

There are even some questions to go along with the text passage ...
 

What do you use to evaluate?

How do YOU evaluate a website?

What makes YOU feel good about the information that you get and possibly use from a website?

Do YOU just go with a gut feeling or is there more to it than that?

I got an email from a teacher a few days ago asking for some ideas and resources she could use to work with her 3rd-5th grade students on evaluating website and conducting effective research.

I had a few ideas, so I sent her some links.

Then I asked friends I am connected with on Skype and got more ideas, so I sent her another email ... and then another email ... and then another email

I started looking at some of the suggested resources, found some other resources and ideas ... so I sent her another email!

I know, I know, I know ...

I did not make very good use of email since I should have pulled together everything ... but I got excited and wanted to share with the teacher who had asked! :)

Since I like to share, I thought I would share them here too (this is also a good way for me to put them in a place where I can find them ... a little selfish)!

Research and Media Skills are such a big part of the Common Core that I thought these might be useful so here are some of the things I found:

• Digital Literacy Tour from Google
• Search Engine for Students from Sweet Search
• Resourcing the Curriculum: Evaluating Websites  (from the Department of Education)
• A Guide to Critical Thinking About What You See on the Web from ITHACA College Library
• Teaching Students to Evaluate Websites from Infosearcher
• Web Evaluation from CyberBee

I also found some questions on a Thinkfinity forum about evaluating websites. There are some great resources and ideas in the comments. Here are a few of them:

•  "One of the sites I've used with 4-6th graders is All About Explorers http://allaboutexplorers.com/  This site has several lesson ideas to help students evaluate information as different levels.
• "I've also used the "rule of 3".  I told them that they should find at least 3 other sites that support the information that they will be reporting.  We also talked about verifying a website author"
• There are some lesson plans on ReadWriteThink that take on evaluating online resources. These might be helpful, depending upon the grade level where you teach:

1. Inquiry on the Internet: Evaluating Web Pages for a Class Collection for grades 6-8
2. Research Building Blocks: Examining Electronic Sources for grades 3-8
3. Wading Through the Web: Teaching Internet Research Strategies for grades 6-8

You can find examples and non-examples, checklists, lessons, ideas, links to other sites, and many other things!

Go explore ... come back and share what you found ...

Remember that SHARING is the most important part ... even if it is not with me, but make sure to share with others!

photo credit: Britta Bohlinger via photopin cc

Primary Source Documents and Common Core Standards

Picture I took of some NC info at a nearby playground

Do you know what is on the State Quarter for NC?


Do you know what is on the license plate for the state of NC?


Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903 . . . 


This is an event that we are proud of in NC. While the Wright Brothers were from Ohio, they had trouble finding enough winds for long periods of time for all the experimentation (and having a soft place to fall when the experiment did not turn out as planned), so they contacted the Weather Bureau to ask for suggestions of places that would meet those requirements.Kitty Hawk, NC was one of the places recommended! (information from Smithsonian Education)


So on December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers orchestrated the first successful powered flight by man at Kitty Hawk, NC!


I wonder how the story told by Orville, the brother who was on the "plane",  would differ from the story told by Wilbur who was on the ground watching ...


I wonder how the stories told by people who were just watching the day would be different ....


I wonder how the story of those in Ohio who got the telegram telling them of the first flight would be different ...


Do stories and accounts change based on perspective?


What about based on whether the stories come from someone who experience the even firsthand or heard about it secondhard?


One of the Common Core Reading Standards for 4th grade addresses that issue:
RI.4.6. Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.
(This is from the English Language Arts Standards » Reading: Informational Text » Grade 4)


For a firsthand account of events in history, students would need to at Primary Source Documents. Primary Source Documents were a things I had difficulty finding for my students when I was in the classroom.
Luckily, I have now come across several resources for Primary Source Documents: 

• Primary Source Nexus

• Teaching wtih Primary Sources

• Library of Congress
  (there is even a teacher section to offer guidance)

• Using Primary Sources on the Web
(definition, tips, links, evaluation ... from divison of the ALA)

• Primary Sources on the Web
(from EduPlace)

• Primary Source Document Exercise
 (from the Smithsonian Archives)

Back to the Wright Brothers ...


Here is a Smithsonian Education Unit comparing firsthand accounts and secondary sourcesthat could be used to meet the Common Core Reading Standard discussed earlier in this post:


“Stories of the Wrights’ Flight” is part of a series that employs primary sources in the study of historical events.  Students compare firsthand accounts of the Wright brothers’ first flights on December 17, 1903, and then compare these to a secondary source, a newspaper story that appeared the next day.


When looking at the focus in the area of Key Ideas & Details as well as Integration of Knowledge &Ideas as well as Integration of Knowledge & Ideas, there are many ways Primary Sources can be used to meet many of the Common Core Standards ...

TPACK And The Common Core Webinar

This Saturday at Noon I will be a guest of the Classroom 2.0 Show where I will be talking about the relationship between the Common Core and TPACK. If you haven't heard a lot about TPACK or you want to learn more about it, this is a very fun format to join in the learning.

It will take place online, in a Blackboard Collaborate room. It's totally free and if you can't make it, it will be archived.

To join go here on Saturday morning.

Speaking of archives, if you haven't checked out the Classroom 2.0 Show Archives you are missing out. What a great place to find loads of great webinars and educations topics. Recent topics include:

Parent Engagement
Livebinders
Becoming A Connected Educator
Gifted Education

That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what is available in the archive. Each show has the rebroadcast, links, resources and so much more. You can spend hours and hours learning there.

I hope you can join me Saturday afternoon!