8th Grade

8

China Blue

— PBS--Independent Lens

8-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chinablue/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

A companion to an independent film focusing on the conditions facing workers who make blue jeans for the Western market, this site provides information about "sweatshops" in China and other developing countries. There is specific information about the sources for several well-known jeans manufacturers, and stories of the young workers in these factories and their brutal working conditions.<br> <br> The site would be useful in an economics class during a discussion of the emerging global economy. In addition, it would be a good supplement to a discussion of China in general, or as part of a comparison with 19th century sweatshop labor in the United States and the development of the labor union movement. There are also links to other web-based sources on human rights, China, and the global economy.

In the Classroom

Share the film clips on a projector or whiteboard (in either RealPlayer or Quicktime formats). Discussion could work well in either a whole-class format or in a follow-up small group activity where each group creates a Venn diagram comparing the sweat shops of today with those in Weestern countries in the 19th century.

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Tag(s): china, china,

August Strindberg

— Jonas Hedstrom

8-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices https://sweden.se/culture-traditions/august-strindberg/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

If you are looking for a good, solid site for researching this Swedish playwright, this is a good one. Available also in Swedish, the site gives much more than biographical information. It presents a unique perspective of this naturalist playwright.

In the Classroom

This is a good site if you are looking for a different way to get students to interpret a playwright. Strindberg is unique because of the genre in which he wrote as well as the way which he lived his life. This might be a good research site for two or three students to work on together to present the playwright to the class.

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Tag(s): plays,

Applied and Interactive Theatre Guide

— Toni Sant

8-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.tonisant.com/aitg/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

An unusual site, this resource should be approached with care, but is worth listing for the interactiveness and uniqueness of it. It is a self-professed "resource for those who use theatre techniques for other or more than arts or entertainment purposes, and for those whose theatre styles incorporate other than traditional presentation styles." All of the links appear to work and provide a WIDE variety of activities and viewpoints. The caution comes in some of those links which can direct students to inappropriate sites for school. <b>Please preview first.</b><br> <br>rnThe top of each site will give you a brief overview and then there is a row of book sources that you can purchase (clicking on them will take you to Amazon). Scroll down past those for the wealth of the site.

In the Classroom

Setting up for a direct link to one of the main areas like History of Theatre will allow your students a veritable feast of areas to choose from. They can look from ancient Greek theatre to marionette puppets to magic-lantern shows. Theatre in Education and WWW Resources and Links are also very useful to the classroom teacher.rnrn<br> <br>If you teach Humanities, Radical Theatre is a good source for some of the epic, theatre of the absurd, and Guerrilla Girls art.rn<b>Steer away from Drama Therapy, Hacktivism, and Psychodrama.</b>

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Bookcrossing.com

— Humankind Systems, Inc.

8-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.bookcrossing.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

If you are a booklover, this is a fabulous site and a unique way to connect with other booklovers around the world. The proviso with it is that it is an entirely open site. Watching the site for several years has proven that it is genuinely populated by people interested in reading and discussing books as well as sharing them with others throughout the world. Ron Hornbaker of Humankind Systems developed this software to make tracking books possible, and a phenomenon began that has grown immensely over the past 6 years. For everything you ever were curious about with the site, click on the FAQ at the bottom. An amazing site for anyone who reads and loves books.

In the Classroom

Understanding that this is an open site worldwide is what puts it into the HS range-- plus the fact that most of the books addressed are adult books (rather than books written for juveniles). As a teacher, it is fascinating to gather information from other places-- and books are released from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between! There are sites on this web to look at the books and the people who release them. You must register to fully use the site, but it is free. This is definitely worth exploring for a variety of reasons, even beyond teaching reading and English. And if you are a book lover yourself, it is just plain fun! Recomment the site to your mature students to promote independent reading and life-long learning.

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Tag(s): book lists,

Newz Crew

— Global Kids, Inc.

8-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://newzcrew.org/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

This site serves as a launching pad for "newz crews": on line discussion groups focused on current events. The discussion groups (which students can join individually or as a class group with teacher oversight) are facilitated by a group of high school students with regular prompts to read a current events article and discuss its implications.

In the Classroom

While you could certainly pass along information about this site to your students to use individually, it would also serve as a great class project. Each discussion "crew" is slated to last only about a month, so there is no long term commitment. Teachers who register their own class groups can monitor the discussions their students are having as a way to ensure participation. While students may prefer their own social networking sites, this site can incorporate that technology into an educationally relevant activity. This site may be particularly helpful for getting more introverted students "talking."

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Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog

— Geoffrey Chaucer et.al.

8-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://houseoffame.blogspot.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

Those studying Chaucer and middle English will find this site hilarious, intriguing, and downright addicting! Besides the blogs all being in middle English, it includes rn"Howe to Reade My Writinges; Basic Glossary; Notes on translatynge Middel Englysshe; On my Englysshe; Elizabeth Renfeldes Notes on Pronounciacioun and Vocabularie as sidelight links on the left.<br> <br>rnUnder the heading "Linkes of Sentence and Solaas" there are links to a variety of related sites that are rich in information as well as interest. A favorite was the Virtual Tour of Dante’s Hell.

In the Classroom

You are limited only by your imagination in the use of this site with high school students. Assigning different "translations" would be the least of the activities. Connecting and writing or reporting on the many related sites can create endless projects from "Market Day" to storytelling to panel discussions to powerpoint demonstrations.<br> <br>rnDO be aware the "Playing on my Ipod" will take students to other student sites, so you might want to limit and be specific about what you want them to do; checking that first yourself may prove that your school filtering blocks those sites anyway.rnThere is also a link to buy shirts from zazzle.com with Chaucer-related sayings on them; again, your filtering may block this, or you might want to specifically deal with that issue.rnIn any case, there is too much "good stuff" here not to use at least some of it for fun and learning if you teach Chaucer et. al. Teachers of gifted students may find this site a marvelous prototype for creating a similar author-centered blog or wiki.

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Tag(s): authors, chaucer, authors,

BLOSSOMS Video Library

— MIT

8-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://blossoms.mit.edu/videos Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works
Find online video lessons and free resources on this MIT site. BLOSSOMS features great STEM videos as well as links to other STEM resources on the site. Find great resources that focus on the use of science and math knowledge to bring these topics to life. View a variety of topics such as Using Geometry to Design Simple Machines, Galaxies and Dark Matter, and Classifying Animals by Appearance Versus DNA Sequence. On each video page, click the link to view the video, read a summary of the information, and even download the transcript, teachers guide, and images that are used for the video. Downloads are available in Word or Adobe Reader format. Interested in the topic? Use the links at the bottom to view other sites and resources.
In the Classroom
Use as some great starters to a unit where students can question what needs to be understood to solve the problem. Brainstorm questions, research information, or use these as starters for daily lessons. Provide time for students to view videos and report their understandings via a blog or report. Create student reviews of videos to be placed on a blog and allow for commenting on the videos and the reviews themselves.
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Tag(s): engineering, STEM,

Research 101

— University of Washington

8-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.lib.washington.edu/uwill/research101/index.html Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

Research 101 is an interactive online tutorial for students needing an introduction to research skills. The tutorial covers the basics, including how to select a topic and develop research questions, as well as how to select, search for, find, and evaluate information sources. This site teaches kids HOW to research so it works with ANY subject matter.Teaching kids how to research and the differences between kinds of sources can be challenging. This site makes it a little easier for you and simpler and more fun for them!

In the Classroom

What is terrific about this site is its interactive capability-- so you can introduce it on a projector or whiteboard at the beginning of class, then let them continue by themselves as you go around and check on individual issues. After each section there is a "review quiz" that students can take right there and get their score immediately. Require them to raise a hand to report a score--or they risk a zero! <br> <br> This site is a must for your teacher web page during research season.

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Tag(s): Research,

Painless Writing

— Richard Guidone

2-8 0 favorites 0 promising practices https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/guides/1986/4/86.04.07.x.html Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

This site developed from the Yale-New Haven Teachers’ Institute offers some tried and true as well as new ways to get children writing painlessly. It walks a teacher through rationale and procedures and offers lessons for different lengths of writing, etc. Guidone offers some creative ways to get kids writing, especially reluctant learners who might need a little prodding of the imagination! While you may be familiar with some of the methods, his combinations can be surprising and thought-provoking. Definitely worth a look, despite the simple, text-only appearance of the page.

In the Classroom

Mark this one as a Favorite so you can find a writing prompt at a moment’s notice. These idas would work well with blogs or journals. You cna also use the prompts to model writing techniques on an interactive whiteboard-- always a motivator!

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Tag(s): writing prompts, writing, process writing,

Math Goodies

— Mrs. Glosser’s Math Goodies

4-8 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.mathgoodies.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

This site was created for middle school math, but could be used with gifted elementary students or older students needing some extra skill reinforcement. Many parts of this site are free for students, parents and teachers. Some of the resources are available by purchasing a CD. Specific math topics include logic, percent, perimeter, circumference, pre-algebra, statistics, graphs and more! This website includes interactive pages, printable worksheets, interactive puzzles and other math challenges.

In the Classroom

Be sure to include this site on your teacher web page for students to access both in and outside of class for further practice.

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Tag(s): logic, charts and graphs, percent, perimeter, statistics, logic, percent, statistics,