Volume 11, Number 1
2000/2001
Authors: Tennie Harrington, Thad Lacasse, Mindy Leach,
Tony Nadeau, and Ken Thomas
Tennie Harrington, Thad Lacasse, Mindy
Leach, Tony Nadeau, and Ken Thomas are students of middle
level education at the Univarsity of Maine at
Farmington.
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Wonderful Websites for Middle Level Teachers
Too many web sites and too little time! It's hard for
teachers to find the time to locate good web sites to help
with their teaching. Web sites are easy to find. Good ones
are harder to locate. It would be nice if someone would
spend the time to locate some of the good ones.
Well, at the University of Maine at Farmington, Middle
Level Education students have been doing just that. They
have tracked down some of the most interesting web sites
available to teachers and reviewed them. There are sites
here which allow you to view African animals in the wild,
explore several exciting forms of poetry, investigate
various middle level issues, and look over more than 1400
lesson plans and activities for teachers. The reviewers hope
you find some of the sites as useful as they have!
This site brings wildlife into your classroom. Located on
this site are links to different web cams located throughout
Africa in wildlife preserves. Although these web cams are
placed in preserves, life is still as wild as ever. Each web
cam uploads new "live" images every thirty seconds, allowing
viewers to follow a particular place and animal with up to
the minute images. Viewers can watch the same cam throughout
the day to see what is happening. Viewers can see lions,
elephants, zebras, and many other wild animals native to
Africa.
Also included on this site are two other links to
different web cams. One is to a web cam in Canada, where
viewers can see polar bears and arctic fox. The other is a
Whale Cam. Like the cams in Africa, images are uploaded
every thirty seconds. The advantage to this cam over the
African cams is it runs very close to our time. It is one
hour different from our time. Another cam is of an eagle's
nest. This cam allows viewers the chance to see a live eagle
up close, and to see the "lifestyle" of one of the largest
birds.
The only negative point to this site would be the time
frame. The African cams run on Central Africa Time (CAT) so
around noon (EST) the cams stop showing images because it is
dark in Africa.
It is possible to become a member of the Africlub. This
allows more options within the site and also allows members
to vote on the 'Pic of the Day.' Each day there is a vote on
the best image and it is posted the following day on the
site. Members also receive an e-newsletter and have the
chance to purchase Africlub merchandise.
My primary usage would be in two subject areas. First I
can see great potential in science. This site could be used
when studying the habitat of different mammals. This site is
also good for studying African geography. Many of the web
cams are located near watering holes. By carefully observing
the watering holes over a period of a few weeks, I noticed
that Africa is entering it's dry season. The watering holes
have shrunken greatly. By following the cams for a set
period of time, students can see what they are hearing about
in different classes. This web site has great potential for
extensions to many different lessons.
I would rate this site an excellent choice for
classrooms.
A Useful Overview of Online Magnetic Poetry
Reviewed by Mindy Leach
Have you ever tried to express yourself through a poem
only to find that the words escape you? Have you tried to
show students how to write sonnets only to have them come up
with statements like: "What rhymes with seaweed?" or "I
can't find the right word to fit here!" The answer to some
of their, and your, frustration may be found through
magnetic poetry. For those of you who are unfamiliar with
magnetic poetry, it is a product that provides hundreds of
words which can be used to create your own original poetry.
Usually magnetic poetry is fairly costly (running around
$10.00 a kit), but there are some great free web sites that
allow anyone who is interested to experiment with hundreds
of words.
Finding magnetic poetry sites online can be very time
consuming. So, to save you some time I have done the
searching for you. Below I have listed some magnetic poetry
sites. Included in the sites listed are: various places
where students would be able to interact with the poetry,
places where teachers can order kits at reduced prices, and
a site that offers lesson plans created around the use of
magnetic poetry. Please note that some of the sites require
a program called Shockwave. This program can be downloaded
for free from www.shockwave.com. All sites listed here were
visited on November 6, 2000.
http://prominence.com/java/poetry/
An interactive magnetic poetry site
http://www.shockedpoetry.com
Shocked Magnetic Poetry site. It allows the user to
select from nouns, adjectives, etc. Also offers a variety
of categories for words. (Shockwave required)
http://www.magneticpoetry.com/magnet/
Official site, where people, including teachers, may
order the magnetic poetry kits as well as try the college
kit online. Special ordering prices are provided for
educators.
http://www.persephone.com/MagneticPoetry/links.html
A personal collection site of various magnetic poetry
online. It offers a large list of links where you can
order magnetic poetry and places where it can be used
online.
http://members.nbci.com/kstarcher/magnet.html
Excellent online site for people to play with this
poetry. It allows people to file through endless amounts
of words by clicking an arrow and dragging the desired
word onto the screen to create her poetry. (Shockwave
required)
http://www.ipsd.org/maywatts/lib/mpp.htm
Site created by educators outlining their use and sites
for magnetic poetry for their students. It was originally
designed for the month of April, National Poetry Month.
It offers teachers lessons on how to use magnetic poetry
in the classroom. To view the copyright information for
this site see: http://www.ipsd.org/copyright.html.
For those students who often have problems thinking of
original words to create a poem or just the right word to
rhyme with "you", using magnetic poetry is the key to ending
that frustration. Magnetic poetry not only helps those who
become tongue tied, or in this case, pen tied; it can also
help you connect words that you may have never considered
using together before.
For those students who may struggle with spelling, this
site also takes that added pressure off them by providing
the spelling for those words they may have been apprehensive
to use previously. Students will later be able to reinforce
spelling when they copy their poetry from the screen and
create a final draft.
Use of these sites may cause students to be much more
creative and motivate them to create other types of poetry.
Students who have anxiety about writing will find that not
all writing requires a pen and paper. This can provide some
motivation for students to be more creative, by showing them
that just because they are performing a very classical
activity, they don't have to resort to classical means to
achieve it. For those who find that some words they need are
not present in a particular program they are using, they may
take a creative approach and create their own paper magnetic
poetry by writing various words onto pieces of paper and
cutting them up to arrange on a desktop.
At the middle school level, getting students to read
poetry in depth is often challenging. The abstract nature of
much poetry is daunting to many who are searching for
concreteness. As a result, teaching kids to like poetry can
be difficult, and teaching them to write it can be even
harder. This site offers a kind of poetry that is, in a
sense, logical. Anyone can write a riddle-poem.
Although one might think that riddle poems, while
intellectually stimulating, offer little true knowledge
about poetry, this is simply not true. This website
recognizes the importance of poem construction.
Alliteration, assonance, rhyme scheme, tone, meter, and
metaphor are only some of the devices of poetry that can be
taught in conjunction with riddle-poems. The site offers
poems with examples of all of these, and while the purposed
audience of the site is apparently the general public (not
education per se), it is not a difficult stretch to
incorporate the ideas it contains into any language arts
curriculum.
Other than dealing with reading and writing of
riddle-poems (and how much fun it can be to partake in such
activities), this site delves quite deeply into the
historical origins of riddle poetry. Such information is
necessary to understanding the writing of Shakespeare,
Milton, and many others. The site could be a foundation for
study of the Anglo-Saxon period, or the historical
information could simply be used for helping kids understand
what makes good poetry, and why. Since the site conveys this
information in a rather dry manner, it may be best for
teachers to use it as reference only, teaching it as they
deem appropriate.
This site is not brilliant in its construction. It is
essentially one scrollable page with links to a number of
other sites. It is not loaded with page after page of
information, but it does offer some valuable input on what
riddle-poems are and how to go about making them. Students
could review examples of riddle poems right on the site, or
teachers could print them out ahead of time, and have
students try to figure out answers. This could be a good
group activity, fostering social skills and critical
thinking.
This website offers great suggestions as to how to create
riddle-poems. Especially at first, it is difficult to teach
kids poetry. One might liken this to teaching philosophy.
Poetry, like philosophy, is often viewed as something
outside of a child's existing schema. It is, for some,
simply beyond grasp. But if we, as teachers, ease students
into poetry, it is possible to create new schema. The site
suggests that, in order to create a riddle-poem, one might
visualize an object and think of herself as that object. As
if the poet really were the object, she should describe
herself in a manner that a skillful reader of the poem could
come to one, and only one, conclusion as to what the object
actually is.
This website, if used in conjunction with any language
arts curriculum, could make students (many of whom could no
better define poetry than pedagogy) actually want to read,
write, translate, and even criticize poetry. The hunger to
solve riddles is inherent in us; the desire to make them is
equally apparent. As teachers, we ought to use this site, as
well as others like it, as a gateway to more complex poetry.
While we can't make kids understand the complexities of
Shakespeare overnight, we can encourage and foster their
poetic abilities and critical thinking skills by showing
them how to take baby steps. Riddle-poems are not the be all
and end all of English, but they could be the seeds of
poets. And this site could be a very effective tool for
planting them.
When looking for information about middle level education
on the Internet, one of your very first stops should be
MiddleWeb. This site is dedicated to the issues being faced
today by middle level educators, as well as middle school
parents. MiddleWeb is a free site that can be accessed by
the general public and has a wealth of resources on topics
ranging from student-based assessment, to professional
information for principals. The site also sponsors a diary
program where you can follow the weekly progress of middle
level educators from different parts of the country. Deb
Bambino, who is one of the teachers participating in the
program, had her diary entries published in the book
Teaching Out Loud, in 1999. Also, a new feature of the site
includes a listserve where you can meet, converse, and
exchange ideas with other middle school educators.
The MiddleWeb site seems to be particularly effective for
the middle level educator/administrator who wants to find
strategies and methods of how to implement reform in their
school. Their News Watch section is especially impressive.
It has hundreds of articles from newspapers and various
education journals which tackle the issues and concerns of
middle school reform. Plus, you can read about schools from
coast to coast that have successfully implemented reform
programs to prepare their students for the 21st Century. The
current lead article of the News Watch section describes the
recently updated "Turning Points 2000," which adds current
research information to the Turning Points model. If you
register with MiddleWeb, they will e-mail notices of current
updates with the most recent information about important
topics that effect a middle level educator. Another reason
MiddleWeb seems so effective is that it does not offer unit
plans or lesson plans. The site has a sole focus of dealing
with the controversial issues facing middle level education
and the role of the modern-day middle level teacher.
MiddleWeb does not have pretty graphics or cute
animation, but it does offer middle level teachers some
fabulous resources. As a pre-professional educator, I find
the listserve to be a valuable resource for venting my
questions and concerns to other professionals who can offer
me insight into the world of middle level education. The
numerous educational journals and newspaper articles the
site has to browse are very impressive and useful to both
the beginning middle level teacher and the veteran
administrator. However, to share information with and gain
knowledge from other middle level teachers is going to be
most beneficial for me when I finally enter the classroom
environment as a member of the teaching community. As
mentioned above, if you need to find information concerning
middle school issues and controversies, please visit
MiddleWeb.
This homepage links over 1,400+ lesson plans and
activities for teachers in disciplines that include: arts
& literature; health & fitness; math; science &
technology; and social studies. These lessons plans alone
are enough to warrant this site an educational tool, and yet
it is only the tip of the iceberg. The homepage of this site
is incredible easy to access and understand, and this is
especially important to someone like myself &endash; a
novice at surfing the web.
Having spent the last eight years of my professional life
teaching health education, I was immediately drawn to the
link for lesson plans and activities that addressed this
discipline. I found information on Anatomy, Fitness and
Nutrition, Illnesses and Disease, Treatments and
Medications, and Life Skills & Family Science. This was
especially attractive to me because I have found that at
times it is very difficult to access information that
addresses Health Education at levels that would meet the
needs of middle school and secondary level students. What
was ruseful about this link was that it allowed the browser
to input the grade-level and the topic area &endash; so the
search was specific to the areas of interest to the browser,
and focused on the necessary information. In addition, it
listed professional health association links that allowed
the browser to keep up to date with professional
associations, and it gave suggestions for supplemental links
involving books, and other resources. I think as a teacher,
I found this portion of this site the most interesting and
valuable.
The site also boasted links to programs aired on PBS that
are of special interest to current events. At this
particular time a primary focus was government and the (then
upcoming) presidential election. These programs include:
PBS Kids Democracy Project: kids can be
President for a day, go inside a polling booth, and more.
The American Promise: bringing democracy to
life by getting students involved in their
communities.
Good Citizens: activities that connect
classrooms and community with interdisciplinary,
civics-oriented activities.
NewsHour Extra: Election Headquarters: teens
from around the country talk about this year's
election.
I especially enjoyed going to ShopPBS for
Teachers. This site gives a brief description of the
numerous titles of documentaries, videos, interactive
Internet activities, etc. that PBS offers for sale to
teachers of all these disciplines. It allows the browser to
preview each selection and purchase it using his or her
credit card. It also gives the browser the opportunity to
track his or her order, check on the order status, and
become a member of the PBS family of supporters. In addition
to all of this, it lists links to companion site resources,
and all purchases made directly go to support local PBS
programming.
Another link listed on the source bar of the homepage was
the site that addressed adult learning. This site is
appropriately called the "ALS" Site, which stands for the
Adult Learning Site. I was thrilled to see that PBS, which
too often is associated with children's' programming, was
making it possible for its adult audience to benefit
directly through continued educational opportunities. This
site licenses educational program rights to colleges,
universities, and other organizations that promote lifelong
learning.
The catalogue that is available through this site
includes more than eight telecourses (college-level
instructional packages). It also boasts that it is the
largest source of telecourses "in the world", stating that
since its inception in 1981, more than four million students
have earned college credit through telecourses distributed
by ALS. In addition to the telecourses, this site also
offers live and pre-produced programs in many curricular
areas and on timely topics in higher education and distance
learning. I enjoyed browsing this site because it was easy
to maneuver, and it was easily understood. They even offer
an "on-line quiz" that assists the browser in determining
his or her strengths and to ascertain whether the site would
be of use to them.
The final link on the homepage source bar is PBS Kids. I
was again impressed with how user friendly this site was,
and with the obvious care it took in meeting the
intellectual needs of the age groups it was designed for. It
is a site that is extremely attractive, using bright colors,
cool animation, and it boasts some of the most popular stars
of children's' programming around, including: Arthur,
Barney, Clifford, Mister Rogers, Teletubbies, and ZOOM. This
site allows the browser to meet each of these characters at
their own sites, and it gives the browser the opportunity to
play games, inquire about current events, and to "babble
on." It is extremely easy to use, and makes it possible to
simply input key terms or ideas of interest and then it
brings up links associated with these. In addition, this
site makes it possible to curtail the search by inputting
specific information about a viewer's geographical location
and then it provides specific links addressing programming
and activities offered by their local PBS stations.
In addition to the above listed links, additional links
are given. These include:
E-mail Newletter: this link allows the
browser to sign up for the Weekly PBS Newletter, and
gives information to the browser via their home email
address that brings them up-to-date concerning
programming, Web features, programming with educational
taping rights (extremely useful to teachers), station
resources, professional development opportunities, and
new products from PBS Video. The browser can state
specific interest areas and when a program or activity
that meets this interest is going to be showcased either
on a PBS station or via the internet, they are given an
email alert. This is a great way to keep up with
potential resources for classroom teachers and to network
with colleagues in your field!
Technology & Teaching: this link gives the
browser ideas for Web-based lessons that address the
discipline areas highlighted in a sourcebar to the left
of the screen. In addition, it does so at three levels:
beginner, intermediate, and advanced. I especially found
this appealing because it made using the Internet in my
classroom less daunting, and it afforded me the
opportunity to progress to elaborate levels of
instruction and learning.
Overall, I found PBS Teacher Source to be extremely
informative, easy to use and navigate, and user-friendly. It
was nice to find a way to incorporate an old friend from my
childhood into my adult life. I have always looked upon PBS
as a resource for learning and growth, however, I tended to
see this in terms of the very young learner instead of the
lifelong learner. This site changed my perspective, and gave
me great insight into how I can incorporate the internet in
my classroom, grow as a professional and as a person, and
make the most of my abilities as a teacher. This is
definitely a site worth browsing and including as one of
your favorites.
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