Volume 3, No. 2                                 22 August, 2003 [To view this newsletter on line: http://www.emck.net/eline/03_08_22.htm.]

"Why did I receive this?" This newsletter is sent to all past attendees of the Summer Teacher Academies, as a free service of the  Partnership for  Kentucky Schools.

Who/What is The Partnership Help Desk?

Since we're still expanding as the 2003 KDE Summer Academy attendees join us, we hope some information might help new members a bit (and remind old ones as well). Our list enrollment is now over 1,350 Kentucky teachers!

• Who produces The Partnership Help Desk? This newsletter is primarily the work of Jeffrey L. Jones, a certified secondary math teacher currently employed by Fayette County Public Schools. It's financed by the not-for-profit Partnership for Kentucky Schools, a 501-c3 organization with 13 years experience supporting Kentucky education.
• How do you select what goes in? The old fashioned way - by brute force of research! We have had a few recommendations from teachers, but most resources are gleaned from discussion forums such as EDTECH, newsletters such as MiddleWeb's Of Particular Interest, links provided by other websites, and open Internet searches. To be included, a resource must be free and reasonably devoid of advertising, and be useful to teachers. Most provide ordinary lesson plans and resources, useful in any classroom, regardless of the presence or absence of computer technologies.
• What is the relationship between The Partnership Help Desk and the Kentucky Department of Education? The Partnership Help Desk was originally produced in partnership with the Region Service Centers, now absorbed in the Office for Professional Development. That office continues to supply teachers for inclusion in The Partnership Help Desk's mailing lists from its summer academy roles. There is no other formal relationship.

For more information, visit The Partnership Help Desk's Information Page.

On-line lesson planning	Education Planet http://www.educationplanet.com This is one of the hundreds of commercial lesson plan resources available on the web. The "bronze" membership level is free, and provides direct link access to only the first three hits on any lesson plan search. The lessons are primarily text-only and provide no rubrics or other materials, so do some exploring before moving up to "Silver," which costs $9.95 per year. The site also provides access to related websites and other resources for free.
Content Area Resources	The Arts and Writing Clay Animation Motivating young writers is often difficult. Aiming it at a visual end-product often does the trick, and makes the project cross-curricular. In past issues of The Partnership Help Desk we have featured the support of writing through video production (September 13, 2002) and digital storytelling (June 7, 2002). In this issue we provide several online resources on clay animation and stop action video. Such animations can be produced with a simple camcorder, or even an inexpensive WebCam attached to a computer. The results are fun, and, not incidentally, force students to think about context, sequence, realistic dialog, and accuracy of information. Tech4Learning. Tech4Learning makes a very good clay animation kit, and this site has a wide range of instructional ideas, tie-ins to standards and learning goals, and support links. Clay Animation Made Easy. Wichita State University's Tonya Witherspoon constructed this site to support education students exploring clay animation. Lots of examples, good integration ideas, and links to other resources. Clay Animation and Stop Motion. This odd site has some hints and helps, and sells resources. It's aimed at serious amateurs. How to create clay animation in 5 easy steps. A product of the PT3/Apple Learning initiative, this site's videos are no longer working, but the steps are helpful and easy to follow. Learning with Clay Animation. Oakridge School art teacher Angela Alavi provides this page. Most notable is a simple outline/scoring rubric for an animation project. Mathematics Math Cats http://www.mathcats.com/ There's a preponderance of elementary stuff here, but Math Cats includes activities for a wide range of age levels. Well organized (see the site map), and aimed at open-ended exploration, this product of teacher and mom Wendy Petti is amazingly free of ads and other distractions. There are projects, math-inspired art examples and craft ideas, and other activities. Math Cats has their own email newsletter as well. Reading Reading Rainbow http://gpn.unl.edu/rainbow/ Note - this is an elementary level resource. The University of Nebraska/Lincoln in partnership with Nebraska Public Television still produce Reading Rainbow, and supply a wide range of instructional materials which support the programs. PBS also maintains a site under their umbrella at http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/, with games, and information about host LeVar Burton. Don't forget their young writer's contest! Science Thursday's Classroom http://thursdaysclassroom.com/ Edited by Dr. Tony Phillips and provided as a service of Science@NASA, Thursday's Classroom has lessons, readings, ideas, and materials generated to accompany breaking science stories! This week features, amongst other things, doing chores in space. There are activities, worksheets, and lesson plans for grade ranges 5-8 and 2-4 on this theme. Social Studies The Learning Web from USGS http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/ The United States Geological Survey's Learning Web page provides general information, homework help, and fun games for students. In addition, it provides a variety of online resources for teachers wanting to include maps or geography in their lessons. Many plans and resources are available online, and many more are freely distributed in print and CDROM form for use in your classroom. If  you just need quick and simple maps for inclusion in documents or web pages, try MapQuest's Atlas area at http://www.mapquest.com/atlas/.
Software Sources	Eclipse - Programming in Java http://www.eclipse.org/ Here's our first resource aimed solely at high school. With Java the official Advanced Placement Computer Programming language, computer science teachers are scrambling to provide helps and resources for their AP charges. Eclipse - an open-source initiative - provides a free Java programming environment almost indistinguishable from J-Builder and other commercial products. Now in version 2.1, the project continues to grow and improve.
Professional Resources	Free Printable Posters http://print-a-poster.p-rposters.com/ This resource provides educational and motivational posters free on the Internet for your color printer. A weekly service of this resource was featured in The Partnership Help Desk's February 21, 2003 issue - the first issue after the Lexington ice storm, when some inspiration was required! They print in 5" X 7" size, perfect for your classroom decoration needs!