Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 05/20/22

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Flowers and their Pollinators - “Mister Brown and Squeaks take a look at some flowers and their pollinators, and learn about special structures that help them work together perfectly!” (L:E; SA:S)

Onomatopoeia - "Onomatopoeia" Crash! Bash! Boom! Pow! In this song, learn about special words that imitate sounds. What's that??? It's Onomatopoeia!’ (L:E; SA:LA)

Inflation - Instagram post; “I got to make a series of stop-motion animations for a @washingtonpost interactive feature about what’s been happening with inflation and the economy over the past couple of years.” (L:G; SA:M, SS)

Open National Field Day - “We have revised our set of traditional field day activities for you to use with your students. These activities were created by the OPEN members and contributors listed in the Field Day Overview. You’ll also find the collection of field day events that were created and revised between 2020 and 2021. Partner logos are displayed to recognized and thank the many organizations who joined our efforts during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Please enjoy all the resources provided. Happy Field Day Season!” (L:E; SA:A)

Life on Minimum Wage - “(link opens a Google Doc) is an activity that I developed almost thirteen years ago to help my civics students recognize how difficult it is to save money when your only job(s) pay minimum wage without benefits. To win at Life on Minimum Wage the students have to reach five financial goals that they select. To earn money the students have to complete the tasks of their assigned jobs. The students then have to pay required bills before using money for their selected financial goals. As the game progresses students will be issued "surprise" cards which require them to spend money on things like speeding tickets, trips to a health clinic, and increases in rent. All of the jobs in Life on Minimum Wage are connected so that if one business slows production or closes, the workers of another business are also impacted. The goal here is to demonstrate the effects of a business closing on a small town's economy.” (L:H; SA:SS,M)

Original photo by Pat Hensley