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John and Hank Green featuring Vlog Brothers; Crash Course; Sci Show News; Truth or Fail;and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
John and Hank Green are brothers. I have become a fan of John Green as an author reading his New York Times bestselling books: Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, and The Fault in Our Stars. I also read (coauthored with David Levithan) Will Grayson, Will Grayson. After following John on Twitter, I learned about his brother Hank. Hank Green is best known for his video blogs with his brother, John, on YouTube under the channel name Vlogbrothers (http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers). Last week the feature video of Vlogbrothers was An Awesome Evening at Carnegie Hall where John and Hank and featured guests sang, told stories and much more!
Hank has a YouTube channel titled SciShow, (http://www.youtube.com/user/scishow) which he focuses on basic and more complex scientific concepts presented in a fun way and at a level that is easy to comprehend.
Both John and Hank Green team together to offer educational online video projects including Crash Course (http://www.youtube.com/crashcourse), where Hank teaches Biology and Ecology, and John teaches World History and Literature. John and Hank also have an online game show titled Truth or Fail (http://www.youtube.com/user/truthorfail) where John/Hank present pairs of facts, and of each pair, one is true and one is false. You actually click on an answer in the YouTube window, and that takes you to another window in which John/Hank informs you that you've either clicked on the truth, or failed, as it were. It is a wonderful trivia sort of game! I can see this as a terrific springboard for a writing/journaling activity.
Finally, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (http://www.lizziebennet.com/) developed by Hank Green and Bernie Su is an online modernized adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
If you are looking for lessons, resources, and ideas for MLK Day or Inauguration Day, check out the following:
MLK Lessons and Ideas by grade level - http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/mlk-day.html?utm_source=nea_today_express&u
Inauguration Day Resources - http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/53997.htm?utm_source=nea_today_express&utm_
Student Writing Websites
Magnetic Poetry http://play.magneticpoetry.com/poem/Original/kit
Magnetic Poetry is the online version of the magnetic poetry kits available in bookstores. The online kits available include the original version, as well as poet, love, mustache, nature and geek versions. This is a fun way to encourage creative poetry writing!
Writing Fix http://www.writingfix.com/
Writing Fix shares many writing lessons K-12 across curriculums. Six Traits is part of their writing program and includes a bibliography of books used in conjunction with lessons. If you find books or resources that you would like to have available in the media center, just let me know.
There are some interesting Project Based Learning ideas for kindergarten - 2nd grade at this link. http://www.teacherjodieblack.com/A-year-in-projects.html
I also like the podcast's based on NPR's This I Believe and Science Friday. Check them out at this link http://writingfix.com/WAC/ScienceFix/This_I_Believe1.htm
As noted on the website: WritingFix is not a "writing program." Our website simply contains thoughtful lessons designed by outstanding writing teachers. These model lessons are posted so that you may borrow ideas from them, but our intention in providing this resource is not to give teachers a word-for-word script to follow. Please, use this lesson's big ideas but adapt everything else. And adapt it recklessly; that's how one becomes a genuine writing teacher.
Below are a few books that I thought were interesting and are available from Amazon:
The Giggly Guide to Grammar is a mix of Shel Silverstein with Strunk and White. This book, based on the reviews and description, is for high school teachers. It offers grammar lessons coupled with hilarious illustrations.
No more dull and boring research reports. 51 Wacky We-search Reports will teach you how to hunt for the best facts and turn them into cartoons, parody performances, jokes, wacky poetry and much, much more. I am not sure of the age range for this resource, but from what I read in the reviews, at least 4th grade and up.
The UnderAchievers is a fun way to teach fractions. Appropriate for grades 2-4. Holly Young combines math and writing to help students learn about fractions.
Illustrative Mathematics http://illustrativemathematics.org/
Illustrative Mathematics is a free resource for K–12 math teachers. On the Illustrative Mathematics website, teachers can find lesson activities aligned to standards for every grade level. Some activities include drawings and diagrams. Anyone may access the activities posted on the website.This website is an initiative of the Institute for Mathematics & Education funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Periodic Table Project is a free app for the iPad and iPhone developed by the University of Waterloo and 3M. Bringing an artistic aspect to the periodic table, researchers gathered drawings representing the elements from students around the world. Each element is represented by a student’s drawing. Users simply click on a drawing to learn about that element. All of the standard information about an element found on a standard periodic table is included. The Periodic Table Project app also includes the two newly named elements. Flerovium (114) and Livermorium (116).
