[To view this newsletter on line:
http://www.emck.net/eline/03_10_31.htm.]

Political Cartoons:

With the November elections around the corner, we're focusing on political cartoons this issue. Integrating lessons across disciplines is easy with a focus which includes history, art, current events, and critical thinking!

Thanksgiving is only a few short weeks away, and with it, increased attention on food! We include a variety of lesson ideas and plans with a food theme, plus a reprise of some of our best Thanksgiving sites.

Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonist Index

http://cagle.slate.msn.com/

MSN's pages are pretty popup-ridden, but this one is worth it. As a part of MSN's e-zine Slate, Daryl Cagle (the drawer of the above cartoon) displays political cartoons from all over the world, updated daily. The side includes a "Teacher Guide" to five selected cartoons each week, complete with ideas for discussion, and sometimes comments from the cartoonist. There are a range of lesson plans for categories of grade levels, with content provided in collaboration with ClassBrain.com.

Political Cartoons in the Classroom - a middle school lesson plan from DELI and Mary Liz Towne

http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/deli/exhibits/1000810/

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (with Apple Computers, ISTE, and AT&T) maintains the Digital Edge Learning Interchange. This collection of exemplary lesson plans by National Board Certified Teachers includes our featured one by Sheboygan, Wisconsin middle school teacher Mary Liz Towne. She uses Daryl Cagle's site (see above) as a resource for a series of lessons on political cartoons. There are video clips of Mary discussing the plan, worksheets, student work examples, resource links, standards (Kentucky's Core Content for Assessment is included), and research links.

Drawing Political Cartoons

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/artsedge.html

ArtsEdge, the educational site maintained by the Kennedy Center, was featured in our August 2, 2002 issue. On the site is this excellent lesson plan for high school students on the drawing of political cartoons. Included are web resources with examples, an assessment rubric and vocabulary list, and ties to standards. It's the product of Diane Dotson of the Tuolumne County Office of Education in Sonora California, in collaboration with education students at California State University, Chico.

Lesson Plan: Political Cartoons from BVSD's Early America

http://www.bvsd.k12.co.us/schools/coalcreek/early/cartoons.html

This cluster of lesson plans is aimed at fourth grade, but could be adapted for other grades. It addresses early American cartoons, the use of symbols, and has students construct their own cartoon. This plan was written by Linda Overholser as a part of the Boulder Valley School District Coalcreek Elementary School's Early America collection.

Lesson Plan: Smart Art,

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/lessons/e3_t6-lp.html

Here's a specific lesson plan for producing a political cartoon. Aimed at middle school level, the site includes links to cartoonists' home pages, a printable lesson outline worksheet, steps, and ideas for discussion. A part of PBS's Markle Foundation-funded citizenship initiative.

• The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/pages/cartoons/ - The Times has no fewer than 10 political cartoonists from whom they purchase cartoons, and the newspaper posts their work daily on this general access page.
• The Political Cartoon Society - http://www.politicalcartoon.co.uk/ - This British society has history, discussion, and links to cartoons from around the world.
• Mark Fiore - http://www.markfiore.com/ - Mr. Fiore's biting cartoons are unusual in that many are animations. Besides giving them flash, color, and sound, the multimedia delivery increases the content and expands the political criticism.

http://www.kidfood.org/

The Connecticut Association for Human Services with funding from Kaiser Permanente brings this website aimed at child nutrition. It's primarily aimed at the elementary level, but middle school kids would find it interesting too. The site comes with helps for parents, and a 75-page teacher's guide for use of the site in the classroom or lab. There's even a collection of recipes contributed by students!

http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food.html

What a great idea! The timeline shows the first historical instances of food production and processing, from sausages to Jell-o Instant Pudding! There's links to sites and resources on each citation. This clever resource is the product of Morris County Library of Whippany, New Jersey.

http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/concepts/health/activity2.shtm

Part of the PBS Teacher Source MathLine series, this lesson uses calorie charts for three fast food chains to help students learn about box and whisker graphs.