February 2004
Newsletter
edited by teacher, speaker and author Marjan Glavac.
Black History Month
Groundhog Day February 2
Waitangi Day (New Zealand) February 6
Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (USA) February 12
St. Valentine's Day February 14
Presidents Day (USA) February 16
George Washington's Birthday (USA) February 22
Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday (UK) February 24
Ash Wednesday February 25
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Math website immediately improves student achievement!
Hotmath.com has tutorial solutions for the actual homework problems in
popular secondary math textbooks used in the US - odd-numbered problems
only. Students struggling with homework can come to the site 24/7 to get help.
Teacher licenses start at $75 for 12 months, or parents can sign up for $29 on
their own. Visit Hotmath http://www.hotmath.com to explore our site
including hundreds of testimonials
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In This Issue:
* BLACK HISTORY EXPLORING AFRICAN-AMERICAN ISSUES ON
THE WEB (TEACHERS)
* HOTMATH (GR. 9-12)
* MS. CAMPBELL'S GRADE 9 ENGLISH WEB SITE
* THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART "COLLECTIONS ONLINE"
* ELWOOD’S ADVENTURES (GR. K-8)
* THE BRAILLE BUG WEBSITE (GR. 3-6)
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BLACK HISTORY EXPLORING AFRICAN-AMERICAN ISSUES ON
THE WEB (TEACHERS)
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/BHM/AfroAm.html
To celebrate Black History Month, here is a site that highlights six
other websites that have information and resources from a Black History
Hotlist, Interactive Treasure Hunt, The Subject Sampler: Sampling African
America WebQuest: Little Rock 9, Integration 0? The Tuskegee Tragedy of
the 1930's to Videoconferencing Events
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HOTMATH (GR. 9-12)
http://www.hotmath.com
As a struggling math student in high school, I could have used this site!
It’s designed to help underperforming students by showing explained
solutions to the odd-numbered homework problems from most of the
popular secondary math textbooks used in the United States.
It’s not just restricted to underperforming students.
My enriched math student who also reviewed the site liked it as well
for the number of structured answers. Sometimes there just isn’t enough
time in class for teachers to go over particular math concepts in detail.
This site fills that void for both the underperforming student and the
performing student.
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MS. CAMPBELL'S GRADE 9 ENGLISH WEB SITE
http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/Eampbmab/
Ms. Campbell's Grade 9 English Web Site has been created to provide her
students with an alternative way to keep on top of what goes on in her Bernice
MacNaughton High School English classes. It serves as a very effective
way to keep the lines of communication open with both students and
parents, especially when it comes to homework assignments. Course
outlines, course content, handouts, expectations, some study tips,
assignments, and useful web site links are all available at this site.
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THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART "COLLECTIONS ONLINE"
http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/
"Collections Online" is a fully-searchable database featuring the collection
of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. With 45,000 records and 27,000
digital images, it is one of the largest databases developed by an art
museum in the U.S.
Accessible on the site are costumes, textiles paintings, sculptures, prints,
drawings, photographs and decorative arts from the following areas: Africa,
Japan, China, Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, the U.S.and the Islamic world.
Thousands of these artworks have never been published or exhibited before.
This site offers a rare opportunity to see artworks normally in storage and
available only to curators. It is a very helpful resource to instructors or
students of all ages looking for information about art or illustrations.
Notable features include an image viewer where users can enlarge and compare
multiple images at the same time. Several special browses are suggested,
such as "monkeys", "demons" or "dragons". Users can also search the
catalogue of the museum's research library.
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ELWOOD’S ADVENTURES (GR. K-8)
http://www.irweb2.ucf.edu/elwoodsadventures/
Each year, the students think about new adventures for Elwood, and write a
personal letter or e-mail to the people they think can help Elwood
accomplish their dreams. In the process they also learn about letter
writing, geography, social studies, math and science. And they learn that
even famous people are approachable.
Elwood was created when a parent of one of Mr. Hand's students objected to
the class reading Pinocchio, the story about a puppet coming to life and
having human dreams. So he decided to make something real. Elwood teaches
that dreams are the purest form of imagination, and imagination is the key
that will open any door. Elwood can't hear, see, walk or talk, yet he has
been on major network T.V. shows and radio programs, and his story has
appeared in major magazines and newspapers around the world. Through it all
he smiles, not because of what he's accomplished, but because he's been
allowed to follow his dreams. Magic happens wherever Elwood travels and he
inspires people of all ages and cultures to believe in their dreams.
And the children learn that they can, in fact, make dreams come true.
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THE BRAILLE BUG WEBSITE (GR. 3-6)
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/
This site was created to teach sighted children about braille, and to encourage
literacy among all children--sighted and visually impaired. It gives sighted
children a chance to learn about the braille code and how classmates who are
blind or visually impaired learn to read and do math.
The Braille Bug reinforces the idea that visually impaired children are more like
sighted children than different--they share the same interests, play the same games,
read the same books, study the same subjects--which can only help foster a better
understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities.
The Braille Bug encourages literacy by making words fun.
FEATURES OF SITE
"See Your Name in Braille"
Type any word, and see it on-screen in simulated braille.
"Trivia Mania," "Riddles," and "Braille Jumble"
Learn braille by playing challenging games. The site keeps score, so children
can compete with friends or classmates.
"Jumble Puzzles"
A game specifically designed for blind or visually impaired children who use
screen readers or refreshable braille displays.
"Countdown!"
A fun way to learn braille numbers.
"The Reading Club"
Features books that sighted and visually impaired children around the country
can discuss on kid-friendly supervised message boards.
"Secret Message"
Type a message to a friend; the Braille Bug displays the message on the screen
in simulated braille, then sends an e-mail letting that friend know a "secret
message" is waiting at the site. In addition to these games, the Braille Bug offers
information on braille, assistive technology used by people who are blind and are
braille readers, and biographies of Helen Keller (who devoted over 40 years of her
life to AFB) and Louis Braille.
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Permission to repost this newsletter is granted as long as the link
http://www.thebusyeducator.com/ is included. Thank you for your support.
***********************************************************************
Mr. Marjan Glavac author “The Busy Educator's Guide To The World
Wide Web” Completely Revised and Updated 2ND Edition (Foreword by
Dr. Harry Wong) LONDON, Ontario Canada ISBN 0-9683310-1-7 200 pages
<mailto:marjan@glavac.com>
FREE subscription to The Busy Educator's Newsletter http://www.thebusyeducator.com/
“There are no boundaries for the journeys of the mind.”
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