I want to say that I am so proud of this faculty and the majority of the scores on the technology assessment from the State Dept. I do not know yet if this will be required each year but will let you know as soon as I hear. The facilitators plan to hold various training sessions throughout the year. I also hope to be able to have some staff development during grade level planning in the near future. In the meantime I hope to keep you abreast of new items, resources, and terminology with these updates. For more information be sure to check out my new blog @ http://sherylw.edublogs.org/where I am trying to keep all my resources in one place for easy access. Please leave me a comment so I will know what you need and can improve this for everyone.

I want to start this update by promoting the Google Earth update. This was implemented on Feb. 2 and contains so many great new features. You can dive into the deepest part of the ocean with marine experts, explore the stars, planets, and constellations with Google Sky, and also go back in history with Historical Imagery. You must first download the newest version with the link below and then check out the layers in the left-hand sidebar. The Historical Imagery is found on the tool bar under the clock. The following websites offer integration ideas for using Google Earth and another great free product from Google-SketchUp- a 3D design program.

Google Earth 5.0 http://tinyurl.com/cgtmpz

http://www.google.com/educators/p_earth.htmlhttp://www.google.com/educators/p_sketchup_discovery.htmlhttp://www.google.com/educators/geo_class.html

I also want to share a grant that I think you may be interested in where you can purchase video microscopes for the

classroom.

The resources for March 20th include something for everyone.

ELA- create your own Myth and Legend, create a Super Hero Comic (to encourage those boys to read & write), a word list generator, a good site on poetry and Into the Book an amazing reading resource that has won impressive awards

Math- multiplication and decimal, math teaching by videos

Science- weather the water cycle, a-z animals the Dynamic Earth

Social studies-Museum Box I have also downloaded a 36 page PDF file on Mapping the Americas Toolkit that is located in common/Centerville’s Intranet/Mapping America. This is about this toolkit: Students of all ages can build a jumbo-sized map and then add the provided cultural and environmental information to the continents in order to see geographic patterns. The toolkit includes ideas for hands-on activities, as well as tips for fantastic school and community events.  This is a valuable resource for any classroom! 

All Subjects-Create your own crosswords that can be done online

There are also links to some free i-phone/i-pod downloads for various subject matter, and a fun free photo/art design site.

Enjoy!!

http://myths.e2bn.org/index.php

Sheryl WinsteadComputer FacilitatorCenterville Elementary Schoolsherylwinstead@anderson5.net

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