Hop on the Bus with Rosa Parks!

Do you know why we celebrate Rosa Parks on December 1? Do your students?

Rosa Parks was not born on December 1, but she did something on December 1 for which she is remembered.

If you need any ideas for things to use in the classroom, check out the available resources from these instructional sites:

• Scholastic.com shares information: Rosa Parks: How I fought for Civil Rights.
• The Library of Congress shares an American Memory of Dec. 1, 1955: Today in History: Dec. 1.
• The My Hero Project has information on a Freedom Hero: Rosa Parks.

Here are some resources I found from searching in Thinkfinity:

• On the calendar of information on EDSITEment, December 1 features information, lessons, and resources to learn about Rosa Parks.
• Rosa Parks is also featured in the Eyes on the Prize series by PBS.
• Wonder-of-the-Day #241 on Wonderopolis: "What does it mean to stand for something?" highlights Rosa Parks.

Here are some videos from Learn360:

• Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement (2004, Mazzzarella Media)
• Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement (2000, Sunburst Visual Media)
• Famous Americans: Rosa Parks (Mother of Civil Rights) (2008, Worldwide Academics)
• Stand Up For Freedom: The Civil Rights Movement in America (2008, Mazzarella Media)
• Daily Almanac: December 1 (2009, Slim Goodbody)

Here are some resources I found from searching in netTrekker:

• Rosa Parks: The Woman Who Changed a Nation (provides biographical information on civil rights activitist, Rosa Parks, along with updates of services that she continued to perform until her death in 2005)
• Spartacus Educational: Rosa Parks (provides biographical information on the story of Rosa Parks as well as an interview from 1977 in which Ms. Parks remembers the bus incident)
• Henry Ford Musuem: Rosa Parks Bus (an absolutely fascinating tale of the actual bus that Rosa Parks was riding in that sparked the Civil Rights Movement) 

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Learn the Basics of Learn360 in 30 Minutes!

Interested in learning more about how to use Learn360 videos, resources and customized playlists? Looking to gain access to a community of online learning tools? Learn 360 is offering informative 30-minute webinars where participants will learn how to create a 21st Century Multi-Media Classroom using Learn360.

Participants will be introduced to the essential basics of Learn360 from searching for media to creating customized playlists and slideshows. Participants will explore the different options of searching for media by keyword as well as performing advanced searches by specific state standards The session will end with a Q&A session that will allow participants' specific questions to be addressed. Below is a list of the upcoming webinars (click on the link to register).
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 12:00 pm

Tuesday, August 9, 2011 4:00 pm

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 12:00 pm

Tuesday, September 13, 2011 4:00 pm

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 12:00 pm

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 4:30 pm

*Please note all times are in Eastern Daylight Time

150th Anniversary of the Civil War

150th Anniversary of the Civil War

Commemorate the sesquicentennial with over 300 video clips from
A&E Television Networks and numerous teacher resources!

What do you know about the Gettysburg Address? Abraham Lincoln? Ulysses S. Grant? From 1861 to 1865, the War of the States created a significant amount of historical content in which we now share with students starting the day they attend school.

Learn360 and our longstanding content partner A&E Television Networks, which includes A&E^®, HISTORY^® and BIO^® , bring you all the resources you'll need to engage your students in one of the most important events in U.S. History!

With over 1,500 Learn360 resources surrounding the Civil War period, including 300 video clips from A&E^®, you can bring this era back to life in your classroom. Click here to view videos, speeches, images and articles and customize a lesson plan that's right for you.

To further support the anniversary, A&E Television Networks is hosting the National Civil War Student Challenge in April, in recognition of Civil War Week on HISTORY^® . Students 13-19 can register for the Challenge through the end of March, which will take place April 7th-9th, and qualify to earn scholarships based on their answers to a 100-question quiz. Learn more.

Bring history alive in your classroom today with Learn360 and A&E Television Networks!


Sincerely,
Your Learn360 Team

(WSFCS Teachers can access Learn360 through Learning Village)

News from Learn360

I received some information from Learn360 about things that have been added to their site, so I thought I would share them:

Notable News:

There can never be too much quality content, so we're continually adding more titles and producers to the site! Here's what's new this month:

• Sunburst Visual Media: It's official. Sunburst's award-winning health and guidance and professional development programming content is now exclusive toLearn360! Their realistic and engaging content is well suited for life skills, counseling, guidance and health education curriculums. Find these only on our site!
  

• National Geographic: We've added more of your favorite National Geographic series to Learn360, including "Amazing Planet", "Africa Extreme","Animal Genius" and "Strange Days on Planet Earth". But that's not all!
  

• Rising Star Education: "Auto B Good" is an Emmy-winning series geared toward K-6 students and is amongst one of the favorites for elementary teachers. Search and watch them.
  

• Genuine Pictures, Inc.: This award-winning and independent producer offers high-quality, relevant programs ranging from geography to musical documentaries. They have it all, and now we do, too!
  

• Worldwide Academic Media: Another producer with unique titles and feature films is now available to you! Their series include "Extreme Environments"and "Famous People in World History & Culture", to name a couple. But that's not all, so be sure to check them out.
  

Things that might be helpful for the month of February:

• Valentines Day (February 14): Get out more than just flowers and a box of chocolate; Valentines day can be a great time to teach students about the history of the holiday while you pass out candy hearts in class. Go search to see what results generate for the keywords "Valentines Day".

• Presidents Day (February 21): With our new content additions, teachers can provide students with information on each of our 44 presidents throughout the History of the United States! Search and see what results come up for, "United States Presidents".

Instructional Resources in Learning Village

Where is the first place you go to look for ideas for a lesson on a certain topic?

We all have our favorite places to go. Some of your commonly used resources may be listed in the image above. Did you (as a WSFCS teacher) know that you can go to one place and be able to access all of the sites listed?

These Instructional Resource for you to search in are all linked to the front page of the WSFCS Learning Village Curriculum Warehouse. I was impressed to be able to find them all in one place, but what even caught my attention more was that if you search for your grade or subject in Learning Village, there are links to specific things in most of these resources.
For example, if you were supposed to teach a 4th grade Science lesson on Rocks and Minerals, in one place in Learning Village, you could find:

• NC Standard Course of Study Objectives
• Links to Lessons from LearnNC on this competency goal
  
• Links to the Standard Search Site for both Promethean and SMART
• Links to a variety of Online Resources for this competency goal
• Learn360 search results for videos on this competency goal
• Link to netTrekker Search Results on this competency goal
• and Links to Related Content (which may include some already made lessons complete with Essential Questions and other needed information)
  

That means you won't have to take time to search the various sites in the image above for the pieces that fit with your curriculum area and Standard Course of Study. Learning Village is not just for Elementary School teachers .. there is also content available for both Middle and High School subjects.

To get the the WSFCS Learning Village from our New Website home page, look to the left to see Quick Links. Learning Village is the second one there. You can also get to Learning Village by clicking on Employees in the blue channel bar. From the drop down menu, click on Resources. Once you click on Planning, you will see the Learning Village Curriculum Warehouse option!

image taken from WSFCS Learning Village

Standard Course of Study... in an instant!

The NC Standard Course of Study should always be in the forefront of your mind. Always. But, here in the 21^st Century, what can you do to immediately blend the SCOS with technology? Lots!

Check out these resources that align the NCSCOS with technological skills that are sure to engage your students instantly. Key word? Instantly.

netTrekker

What IS netTrekker? As defined by netTrekker, an online application that delivers digital content, organized by grade and reading level all aligned with the SCOS. Differentiated instruction tools are the key!

Watch a video about netTrekker from our very own Project Manager for Instructional Technology, Marlo Gaddis. Watch another video explaining netTrekker in comparison to Google. (This video is from a teacher’s perspective)

Curriculum Pathways

What IS Curriculum Pathways? As defined by SAS, Curriculum Pathways is an online resource for students and teachers. SAS Curriculum Pathways provides standards-based content in all the core disciplines, covering grades 8-14.

Watch an introduction video for Curriculum Pathways and get a great overview of what to expect when you log in.

Learn360

What IS Learn360? Streaming media that covers content from all areas of the K-12 curriculum. Example video resources are provided for teacher/student use from PBS, National Geographic, Standard Deviants, Slim Goodbody, and Sunburst Visual Media™, just to name a few.

Watch the demo for Learn360

Simply need access to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Online? Take a look at these two sites.

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/

http://www.learnnc.org/scos/

Only need access to a copy to print?

Question:

What is the goal in producing a technology rich curriculum?

Answer:

A learning yet interactive experience in which your students gain core knowledge, insight, new perspectives and new technological skills.

As you begin looking towards a brand new academic year… include netTrekker, Curriculum Pathways and Learn360 in your lesson plans! A learning yet interactive experience in which your students gain core knowledge, insight, new perspectives and new technological skills is sure to follow.