The E-line Archives, Vol. 4, #5

Volume 4, No. 5 1 October, 2004

[To view this newsletter on line:
http://www.emck.net/eline/04_10_01.htm]

The Kentucky Kids '04 - PSA Video Competition deadline is Dec. 1st! For more information visit http://www.kentuckykids.net.

October 1st - This Day in History

Don't forget - the E-Line Search Page shows two other newsletters with date/time/calendar themes:

September 5, 2003 - It's about time...and dates!
March 5, 2004 - March celebrations courtesy of Wisconsin's Education Calendar

On October 1st, our 39th president Jimmy Carter , Henry III of England, Boeing Aircraft founder William Edward Boeing , Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the Supreme Court, and actors Walter Matthau ("Grumpy Old Men") and Julie Andrews ("The Sound of Music") were born. On this day in 1847, Maria Mitchell , American astronomer, discovered a comet, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts - the first woman to be so honored. In 1961, on this day, Roger Maris hit his 61st homer of the season, breaking Babe Ruth's 34-year record (Maris' new record lasted until 1998). In 1908, the Ford Model T Model T Ford hit the market, and brought automotive travel to the masses for the first time.

There are literally hundreds of "This Day in History" email newsletters or web pages on the Internet. Here are several that seem most consistent in their content and coverage:

The History Channel's This Day in History - http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/ - webpage focusing on a few momentous events, including streaming video clips taken from this cable channel's archives.
The History Net's Today in History - http://www.historynet.com/tih/ (click the link at top right) - simple sentence listing of events and births.
Library of Congress' Today in History - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/today.html - part of LOC's American Memory project, this page gives more depth and fewer events, though the story archives are searchable.

Another resource, from the work of Andreas Nothiger as an extension of his wall chart, is HyperHistory (http://www.hyperhistory.com/) - a remarkable, browsable historical timeline and historical map collection, which is fully interactive.

On-line lesson planning

Making Connections, from Louisiana DOE

http://www.doe.state.la.us/conn/

Louisiana's Department of Education has done a fine job of presenting resources for teachers in the state, with this easy-to-use resource. Besides the state core content, there is an extensive database of lesson plans accessible through the web (borrowed heavily from MarcoPolo, amongst others), and a database of Web resources as well.

Content Area Resources

Health/ Practical Living	NIDA goes Back To School http://backtoschool.drugabuse.gov/ The National Institute on Drug Abuse is an arm of the federally-funded National Institutes of Heath. This cluster of teaching resources covers all age groups. Some (including the excellent NIDA for Teens at http://teens.drugabuse.gov/) are on line, some are in printable format, and some can be ordered for free from NIDA.
Mathematics	Convergence http://convergence.mathdl.org/convergence/1/ This offering of the Mathematical Association of America is an online E-Zine with articles, classroom ideas, and links to other resources, in an easy to use, searchable format. Since it's just getting started, the resources are not yet extensive, but it'll be one to watch! Primarily aimed at high school and above.
Reading	Book It! http://www.bookitprogram.com/ Pizza Hut has sponsored this reading initiative for almost 20 years. There are lots of activities, competitions, grants, and free materials, all aimed at encouraging early reading. Book It has partnered directly with districts and departments of education on specific programs, but this site is a free portal for its many general programs.
Science	Playing with Time http://www.playingwithtime.org This odd little site has a bunch of fast-speed and slow-mo/time-lapse video examples, and some stop-action animations, streamed from their site. There are ideas for projects, and a mailing list for people interested in the ideas. You can submit your work for inclusion on the site. It's a project of educational media development and consulting company Red Hill Studios.
Social Studies and Writing	Newz Crew, from Global Kids and NPR http://newzcrew.org/ Global Kids is a New York City-based organization supporting global literacy and consciousness for urban kids. Newz Crew is a cluster of online activities for high school students supported, in part, by National Public Radio's News Hour. At the center is online discussion of current events with a global perspective, in small groups with topical themes. The discourse works in three-week cycles, and is pretty much run by the kids themselves.

Grants/ Awards

CAPCO Science Class Challenge

http://www.nocfcs.org/scc/scchome.htm

The Consumer Aerosol Products Council offers prizes, from class pizza parties to $5,000 grants, for classes whose teachers use CAPCP's classroom resources. The Challenge is used as a way to promote the examination of CFC-free aerosol products, and their relationship to ozone depletion and other environmental issues. The Challenge is available for two grade levels - 4-6 and 7-9. There is an online questionnaire, and other grand requirements. Deadline for the 2004-05 school year is May 13, 2005.

Professional Sources

The Digital Divide Network

http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/

The "Digital Divide" is a well-worn phrase which represents a real concern - the potential upward mobility of many economically disadvantaged students depends on improved access, and the skills to use, the rich resources available online. This website is a collection of articles, resources, and discussion addressing this need. It is the work of WWWEDU list moderator Andy Carvin, and the Benton Foundation.

Newsletter archive (including further information about this resource): http://www.emck.net/eline/

Questions, comments, feedback, or requests for removal from the mailing list: eline@emck.net