Issue 20, Volume 12 January 19, 2012     Thought for the Week Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. -- B. F. Skinner   Prepare Now for 100 Days of School Celebration Has it been 100 days already? Not yet; but it is time to prepare for any activities you plan to have in your classroom. Below you will find links to several web sites with plenty of activities to celebrate 100 days! 100 Ways to Celebrate the 100th Day of School http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/100-ways-to-celebrate-the-100th-day-of-school-with-the-new-york-times/  The New York Times has some great suggestions for you to help you celebrate Day 100 in the classroom, including making a timeline of 100 events (classroom, personal, regional, national - your choice!), listing 100 things students want to accomplish (illustrate this with pictures of places students want to visit, etc.), or giving 100 student predictions of what life will be like in 100 years - lots of great ideas here! 100 Days of School www.teachingheart.net/hundreddays.html  Find lots of lessons, links, ideas, and printables regarding the 100th day of school. You may want to try to have a dollar dig, a snack count, or celebrate 101 days of school. 100th Day of School Homepage Classroom Activities www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/100th/  Visit this webpage to find a list of activities that other teachers are doing to celebrate the 100th Day of School. Vicki Blackwell’s Internet Guide for Educators http://www.vickiblackwell.com/100th.html  Find ideas, activities, and lessons for 100 days of school. You will also find links to other 100 Days websites. 100th Day Activities http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/100th_Day/  Create 100 lipstick kisses, make a 100 stamp book, or estimate the time it takes to do 100 things. Discover what 100 jelly beans look like. Write a book listing groups of 50 opposites. Celebrate 100 by reading The Wolf's Chicken Stew, graphing, and making 100 pancakes! Find these and other creative and fun ideas for the 100th day of school. 100th Day of School http://k6educators.about.com/library/bl100thday.htm  This site has a huge list of links for the 100th day of school. Find out how you can make the 100th day of the school year both fun and educational for your students. Groundhog’s Day – February 2nd Groundhog Day is celebrated every year on February 2nd in both the United States and Canada. The folklore states that on February 2nd if a groundhog emerges from his hole and fails to see his shadow, he will leave his burrow - signifying that winter will end soon. But, if the Groundhog does see his shadow, he will retreat down into his burrow; and, winter will last for another 6 weeks!  Don't forget to check out the wonderful videos that you can use from Discovery Education Streaming, a paid resource of the Calcasieu Parish School Board. Many of the videos now come with Teacher's Guides and/or Blackline Masters for you to use with the videos. (See your librarian for a passcode if you need to create an account for Discovery Education. Once you have an account, you can access this resource anytime, anywhere.) Discovery Education Streaming even has a Groundhog Day video quiz so you can see how much your students already know. To access Discovery Education from the CPSB home page, click on the Employees tab and then find Discovery Education Streaming under the Resources column.   In addition, you will find several sites below to help you study and celebrate Groundhog Day!  A to Z Teacher Stuff http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Groundhog_Day/ Here you will find more than 15 teacher resources including lesson plans, activities, printables, and more. Apples 4 the Teacher http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/ground-hog-day/ Find a collection of activities for Ground Hog's Day including coloring pages, crafts for kids, poems, books, word searches and free teaching resources including lesson plan ideas, printables and more. Groundhog Day Lesson Plans & Games for Kids http://holidays.mrdonn.org/groundhog.html  Here you will find a list of free online activities for kids to make Groundhog Day an occasion to remember. There are also ready-made PowerPoint presentations for you to use. Fabulous February Favorites http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/february.htm  Learn about Punxutawney Phil and his predictions. Find out the top ten reasons to celebrate the day, and get the lyrics from popular songs adapted especially for the Groundhog. There’s more; so, check it out. Education World: Come to the Groundhog Day Party! http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson048.shtml  Celebrate Groundhog Day with a bunch of activities, some Internet exploration, and a variety of groundhog games. Fun for all ages! Included you will find three Internet teaching masters. Lesson Plan Lounge http://lessonplanlounge.blogspot.com/2009/01/ground-hog-day-lesson-plan-ideas.html  If you are planning to create a packet of Ground Hog Day skill sheets, then you need to go to this site. Not only will you find all kinds of activities and ideas, but you will also find a recipe for a Ground Hog cupcake. NEA Foundation – Nickelodeon Big Help Grants The NEA Foundation – Nickelodeon Big Help Grants are available in the form of Student Achievement grants to K-8 public school educators. The Big Help Grants program is dedicated to the development and implementation of ideas, techniques, and approaches for addressing four key concerns – environmental awareness, health and wellness, students’ right to a quality public education, and active community involvement. The grants target these four concerns as areas of great promise in helping develop a sense of global awareness in 21st century students that will encourage and enable them to make a difference in their world. Both the NEA Foundation and Nickelodeon are strongly committed to supporting the development of these skills and attributes for America’s students. The online application process for these grants is the same as all Student Achievement grants. Interested applicants can designate their grant application for consideration for the Big Help Grant program in the online application system. The average grant amount is between $2,000 and $5,000; the proposal deadline is February 1, 2012. Learn more at the NEA site: http://www.neafoundation.org/pages/educators/grant-programs/nea-foundation-green-grants/.  Young Scientist Challenge Opens (for Middle School Students) Discovery Education and 3M announce the opening of the 14th annual Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, which rewards middle school students for their science acumen, demonstration of innovation and curiosity, and communication skills. Through the Challenge, students have the opportunity to compete for $25,000 and the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist.” The Challenge asks students to create a one to two-minute video communicating the science behind a possible solution to an everyday problem related to one of the following categories:  The Way We Move The Way We Keep Ourselves Healthy The Way We Make a Difference Ten finalists will be selected to participate in an exclusive summer mentorship program working directly with a 3M scientist. Each finalist also will receive a trip to the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minn., to compete in the final challenge in October, 2012. All video entries must be submitted online at http://www.youngscientistchallenge.com/ no later than April 19, 2012. Videos will not be judged on production skills and may be recorded on cell phones or basic digital cameras. Encourage your "Young Scientists" to compete in this challenge. Who knows?! You may have the next “America’s Top Young Scientist.” Promethean Chart Five Finger Test Many teachers find wonderful resources at Promethean Planet. Promethean Planet contains numerous flipcharts that have been created and submitted by classroom teachers. It sometimes can be overwhelming when you try to find something that will benefit your students. Next time you are searching for quality flipcharts, you might try using the Five Finger Test. Ask yourself the following questions: Is there a clear learning goal? Is the lesson chunked/paced well? Does the flipchart have good visuals and clear design? Is the lesson engaging?  Is the assessment formal or informal? Wireless Login Woes Laptops sometimes lose their wireless connection which can prevent teachers and students from logging in. The error is usually states that “there are currently no logon servers” or the “CPSB domain is not available.” Connecting the laptop to an Internet cable and restarting can sometimes fix this problem by refreshing security policies and the wireless connection. Laptops that have not been used for extended periods of time may have other problems that connecting an Internet cable cannot fix. Contact Tech Help for more assistance with wireless logon problems by submitting a footprint tech help ticket at the Tech Help website. Best on the Net!! -- Visit this site for hundreds of websites for teachers! We would love to hear from you about the best educational sites you have found on the web. Please submit, via email, the sites you feel merit inclusion. Send to tech.connect@cpsb.org. Please include the URL and a short sentence about the site.  Featured Sites: (These sites were submitted by teachers in Calcasieu Parish) Seven Wonders of the World http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sunken/wonders/  The notion of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World can be traced back to the fifth century B.C. These creations rivaled many created by nature in their size, majesty, and beauty. Six of the seven wonders no longer stand, having been destroyed by natural disaster or by humans.   Teachers’ Domain http://www.teachersdomain.org/ Teachers’ Domain offers free digital media from public TV broadcasters for educational use. Users can search for materials via individual state standards, Common Core State Standards, or national standards from different organizations. Website users can create online profiles in order to share the resources they have learned for a particular lesson with others.   Civil War and Reconstruction http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-war-reconstruction.html  Teach the Civil War with primary documents, with these entries from the National Archives. There are four paths to explore, with photographs and letters or telegrams providing fascinating witnesses to the war.   An official publication of the CPSB Technology Department For Technical Support:  help.cpsb.org Calcasieu Parish Homepage  Technology Department  Tech Help Site  Best on the Net Tech Guides  Computer Purchasing Information  Tech Connect Archive