Discovering sites that support early literacy is a real challenge. Take a look at Starfall for sound and letter recognition and beginning reading activities. The site is very interactive and entertaining!

Are you a national board certified teacher? If not, have you checked out the National Board Website? Here's an article about an independent research project that has been conducted that shows the effectiveness of National Board Teachers.

I have a lot more to tell you about National Board certification - but that's enough for today. Read the article and think......

The National Technology Plan was unveiled today. This site provides details of the plan, as well as a link to download a pdf file of the complete report entitled, Toward a New Golden Age in American Education.

Highlights from the Seven Major Actions Steps and Recommendations

1. Strengthen leadership - Produce tech savvy leaders.
   
2. Consider innovative budgeting - Consider leasing programs.
   
3. Improve teacher training - Provide preservice preparation, online learning, and increased resources.
   
4. Support e-learning and virtual schools - Provide e-learning access for every student.
   
5. Encourage broadband access - Ensure access, reliability, and support.
   
6. Move toward digital content - Guarantee ubiquitous access to computers and connectivity for each student.

Do your students spend hours instant messaging their friends? According to the Pew Report, approximately 13 million teens are intense users of this communication tool. Would you like to address the issue so that your students understand when IM lingo is appropriate and when it is not?

Check out this lesson from Read Write Think.org entitled Audience, Purpose, and Language Use in Electronic Messages. Designed for students in grades 6-8, the lesson discusses the appropriate use of Internet abbreviations. There's even a great handout that provides you with a list of commonly used abbreviations.

This lesson on What’s the Difference? Beginning Writers Compare E-mail with Letter Writing helps students in grades K-2 explore the difference between e-mail and snail mail letters.


Write Right Back: Recognizing Readers’ Needs and Expectations for E-mail Replies helps K-2 students understand the functions of reply and reply all to email messages.

These links were included in today's issue of NCTE Inbox. Inbox is a wonderful enewsletter that is chock full of great ideas, links to articles, and discussions of current issues. Subscribe today.

CU L8R!!!

The NetAlert CyberSafe Schools site has several resources and links for teaching students about internet safety and cyberethics.

You can download pdf files of secondary and primary wall charts, quick reference guides, and a Teacher Guide to Internet Safety.

Two of the links include Cyberethics for Teachers and Cyberethics for Kids.

You will want to look at the Ten Commandments of Cyber Ethics at the Cyber Citizen site. In addition, the site provides a number of link designed Just For Kids.

Educational Hotlists from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Great links to many content sites.

Microsoft Users rejoice. A new piece of software entitled, Scholastic Keys, provides the user with a template for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The template has large buttons and simple methods for importing pictures and other graphics. Of course, you already have to have the Microsoft Office programs and it's only available for Windows XP.

Read Kimberly Keith's review in Parenting of K-6 Children.

The National Center for Technology Planning provides links to state, district, and building level technology plans.

Tale of Despereaux

Tale of Despereaux
Originally uploaded by ShelleyAistrup.

The Tale of Desperaux is a delightful tale of a mouse, a rat, and a serving girl. Listen to this blurb!!

"Desperaux's brothers and sisters stepped back, away from the new mouse.

'This is the last,' proclaimed Antoinette from her bed. 'I will have no more mice babies. They are such the disappointment. They are hard on my beauty. They ruin for me, my looks. This is the last one. No more.'

'The last one,' said the father. 'And he'll be dead soon. He can't live. Not with his eyes open like that.'

But reader, he did live.

This is his story."

It's a great read aloud and has a powerful message about seeking one's dreams.

Expand your knowledge of how to teach reading. These books have fabulous tips and strategies for stretching your students and finding a myraid of ways to ensure they are comprehending what they read.

Good-bye Round Robin: 25 Effective Oral Reading Strategies by Michael F. Opitz and Timothy Rasinski is a quick read. Opitz and Rasinski provide research based reasons for why teachers should abandon the practice of round robin reading. The strategies included in the book are familiar, but written in a very accessible style.

Janet Allen's book, Tools for Teaching Content Literacy, provides the reader with strategies for building, monitoring, and extending content knowledge. Easy-to-follow descriptions of the strategies explain the nuts and bolts of how to use them successfully in the classroom. The book has great blackline masters as well.

There are always new sites to explore. This one, eMINTS National Center, has thematic topics with links to related websites, lesson plans, assessment ideas, and more. It's definitely worth your time. Be sure to look at the calendar. The eMINTS staff highlights a lesson a day. Have fun!

This is the link to the blog we have created to track the progress of the Northview Technology Committee.

Are your students losing their files?
Teach them to do the following:

• Name the file appropriately.
  
• Watch to see where the file is being saved.
  
• Save every five minutes.
  
• Use Edit Undo.

Would you like to learn more? Please see Technology Pathfinder for Teachers, a publication from the The Master Teacher. A longer version of this was published in September, 2004 (Volume 9, No. 1).

The United States Government maintains a variety of websites that also include materials and information that is appealing to students. Check out FirstGov for Kids. Here's a sample of what you might find under Geography:

• Fact Finder Kids' Corner "Learn about the U.S. Census, get facts about your state, and have fun with quiz questions."
  
• National Atlas.gov "Make interactive maps within your web browser! This program allows you to make your own maps. Select, change, and display map layers. Roam across America and zoom in to reveal more detail. Point at map features to learn more about them. Locate and map more than 2,000,000 geographic names in the United States. New map layers are added each month."
  
• USGS Learning Network "Explore things on, in, around, and about the Earth such as plants and animals, land, water, and maps. Learn how biology, geology, hydrology, and geography can help us understand our changing world."

All of the descriptions came directly from the FirstGov for Kids site. Some of the subject areas include History, Plants and Animals, Money, and State Websites. (There are many more!!!)

I just finished reading the eleventh book from the Series of Unfortunate Events books. The Grim Grotto is just as clever and intriguing as all the rest. If you haven't gotten hooked on this series yet, you are really missing a treat! The author is Lemony Snicket and the first book is called The Bad Beginning. Start today. Don't delay (although Mr. Snicket will implore you to turn the other way).

What search engine are you currently using? I might suggest that you branch out beyond Google and use Vivisimo or Kartoo. Vivisimo searches and then clusters the searches into topic areas. Kartoo searches and then provides the user with a web that shows the results of the search and how the sites are related. Depending on what you are looking for, how you wish to narrow your search, and the types of sites you are looking for will determine which site best meets your needs.

I know we are always seeking ways to make the Microsoft Office products more accessible to our students. This new software from Scholastic entitled Keys does just that. The program provides a template with "kid friendly" icons and an easy-to-use interface. It can currently be downloaded for a 45 day trial. Single copies cost $59.00 and discounts are available for multiple machines/schools. Check it out!!!

The National Council for Teachers of English produces a wonderful electronic newsletter called NCTE Inbox. Issues arrive weekly and contain "news, views, and ideas" for teaching language arts. Don't delay! Sign up today!

This week's issue contains great ideas for teaching vocabulary. The title of the article is called Break out your Dictionaries in honor of Dictionary Day. Dictionary Day celebrates Noah Webster's birthday! Included in this issue are research articles and a lesson plan from the Read Write Think site called An Alternative to Testing: Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster.

There are so many wonderful sites for teachers. Check out Sites for Teachers. This portal sites has links to over 1.000 educational sites.

I'm always looking for great clip art. Here's a new site to check out, School Clip Art for Teachers. The clip art is free. If you're interested in purchasing additional clip art, there's always that option!