Smartboards in the Classroom

We are always looking for interesting ideas that will trigger critical thinking, stimulate creativity and strengthen communication in our students (See Standards - NYS ELA 1,2,3,  ISTE 1,2,3,4 and NETS Students 1,2,3,4).  So, today's New York Times article (see attached) on the impact of melting arctic ice on northern shipping lanes proved very interesting. Tying this development in global warming back to curriculum, we've come up with an interesting idea that fits in middle school (seventh grade) Social Studies (see pacing calendar: October on Explorers).

WHAT IF Magellan had been able to sail NORTH instead of SOUTH when his crew circumnavigated the earth? 

Consider this map from today's NYTimes article by ANDREW E. KRAMER and ANDREW C. REVKIN, published: September 10, 2009:

 

Insert this map on a page in your SmartBoard Notebook lesson.  Use the dual screen tool.  On the second page, insert the world map outline you'll find in "Essentials for Educators" -  "Geography" - "Maps" - "World" - "Continents" and then "Notebook Files and Pages" - "World - Outline Map". Be sure to save.

 

Now pose the query:  "Based on our examination of Magellan's journal around the earth, (1) contrast his path to that of the ship in today's NY Times article, (2) Redraw Magellan's path IF he had been able to use the Northeast Passage by sailing NORTH from Spain instead of SOUTH.  What impact would this have had?    

 

Now stand back and watch the intellectual fireworks!  The first rule of education is "First get their attention by giving them something stimulating to think about!"  If you are able to use this lesson with your students, please come back and share your students' reactions with our global learning community.  Can't wait to read your comments!

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Technorati Tags: SmartBoard, Magellan, Northeast Passage, European Explorers, Global Warming, Arctic Shipping Lanes, Social Studies, Middle School

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Attachment(s): http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/09/11/science/earth/11passage.map.ready.html

 

One of the most important roles we have as educators is to stimulate our students' curiosity and get them talking/writing about interesting ideas.  The challenge, of course, is to interject these ideas at key points in the curriculum pacing calendar! 

 

Here's a very interesting video I found on the History Channel that would fit in the seventh grade pacing calendar (around October) when the investigation of European Explorers begins.  

 

The video asks "Did Christopher Columbus actually see a USO - an Unidentified Submerged Object?" 

• Use your SmartBoard to present the video. 
• Embed it into your six slide lesson.
• Preview the video for vocabulary and introduce the new language before you show the video (ELL/ESL Standard #1). 
• Use a chat to capture the conversation as the video progresses. 
• Divide into teams using a google.doc to develop their ideas.  
• Have them create a podcast of that they learned.
  

Let's use Web 2.0 tools to reach our 21st Century learners...and have fun along with them!

Enjoy!

 

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&vid=92a97840-9672-44c6-8e8b-93aaddf502fc

 

 

Technorati Tags: Social Studies; European Explorers; Christopher Columbus; USOs; UFOs

The Growth of a Nation

Here is a wonderful interactive resource on the growth of the United States that is appropriate for all grades.  It contains an interactive map, audio narration and embedded timelines.  It's perfect for use with a SmartBoard.  Many thanks to Jim Hollis for this wonderful resource.

Technorati Tags: Social Studies; Westward Expansion; US History; Civil War; Spanish American War; Native Americans; Slavery

Attachment(s): http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie2.html

Another possible Inauguration lesson could focus on your visual/auditory learners with elements to engage tactile/kinesthetic learners.  If some of your students' learning preference is for small group presentations, this lesson is for them!

 

Inaugural Addresses:

Andrew Jackson's Inaugural Address (Transcript)

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr075a.html

 

More research:

http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/

 

 

Learning Objective: To Develop a Greater Understanding of Power of the Spoken Word

• Organization and Research:  Form teams of three students and determine presidents.
• Present: As a team, create a slide of the Inaugural speeches of three Presidents. Project them on the SmartBoard. Cite all sources.
• Research and Write: Each team member will write a brief one paragraph biography of his/her President and then present the biography to the class.
• Vocabulary:  Each team member will (1) read the President's Inaugural address in advance and identify new key words, (2) create a vocabulary slide with the new word in one box and the definition in another, (3) present the slide, defining each word, (4) scramble the words and definitions and (5) have a student come up and unscramble the words and definitions.  Team will move on when everybody knows the meanings of the new words.
• Presentation: Each team member will then present their President's Inaugural Address using the split screen window on the SmartBoard.  The presenter will read the speech aloud to the class, highlighting key words and phrases.  On the second split screen, the class will rewrite the beginning of the speech together. All handwriting will be converted to text using the inking function.
  
• Reflection and Analysis:  Each student in the class will choose a Presidential Inaugural Address and rewrite in his/her own words.
  
• Publish:  Each student will copy/paste their rewrite to the class blog in the comment section for review and publication.
  

Learning Modalities Addressed: Auditory/Visual, Tactile/Kinesthetic

Content Areas Addressed: Social Studies, English Language Arts

Standards Addressed: see "Standards" category to right for pdf

ISTE - 1. Creativity; 2. Communication/Collaboration, 3. Research and Information Fluency, 4. Critical Thinking, 5. Digital Citizenship, 6. Technology Operations and Concepts. 

 

NYSED ELA - 1. Language for Information & Understanding, 2. Language for Literary Response & Expression, 3. Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation, 4. Language for Social Interaction

 

Please give us your thoughts on this lesson in the comment box below.  If you use this lesson with your students, please let us know how they liked it.  Were they engaged?  Did they absorb the content?  Did their response surprise you?  Together we learn! 

Technorati Tags: Inauguration, SMARTBoard, SMARTBoard Lesson Plans

 

 

Attachment(s): http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/inaugural-exhibit.html#washington

Bring historical videos from the US National Archives and Records Administration into your lessons easily with the help of Google Video.

Elementary and Secondary Grades


Attachment(s): http://video.google.com/nara.html

There is an excellent website that gives you access to historical newspapers for original source document research.  I found it while working with my teenage son on his Global History assignment on the Fall of Warsaw in WW II. 

The site is called "ProQuest" and is attached below.  You can request a 30 day free trial of the site and decide if it is a resource you'd like for your students.  Make sure to indicate your school in the contact information.  Individual people can not use the free trial, but teachers at schools can.

Be sure to let me have your thoughts on the site when you comment below.


Attachment(s): http://www.proquest.com

Here's the link to the search database for Social Studies lessons. Note that these lessons are tied to Standards as well.
Attachment(s): http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+activities/Correlated+Search+ca.htm

Here is a link to my portaportal account.  Enter "newsomlang" in the guest access box.  Look at the categories called "A is for America".  These are active websites that contain original source documents on the American Revolution.


Attachment(s): http://www.portaportal.com