Sister Library Project

Yesterday I received this book from a librarian in Paris who organizes the Sister Library program I joined a couple years ago:

My Favorite Book by Amy Reggio

It's an absolutely gorgeous book, filled with amazing pictures.  Not only can you see these beautiful young people with their favorite books, but you can see the world they live in.  In the background you can see the other villagers, their homes, children farming, their library of books we would have long-since weeded...

At any rate, this books is the inspiration for a Sister Library activity I agreed to do with another library in Malawi.  We are going to recreate this book with our students, and they will recreate it with theirs.  Then we will exchange copies of our books.  I'm so excited!!

For anyone interested, you can read more about the program HERE.

Just Google It!

I've been introduced recently to two great resources, both of which harness the power of Google Earth and can be used in our classrooms.  The Google Cultural Institute and Real World Math are both wonderful resources for our teachers, to make learning meaningful and to give our children a greater world view.

If you haven't played with it before, you might be interested in spending a few minutes at the Google Cultural Institute (if it's not blocked at school!).  From the front page, if you hit "explore" you end up on their contents page where you can see what they have available.  You can view resources by decade, partner, channel, or project.  Your kids can take a virtual 3-D field trip all through Versailles!   The World Wonders Project is an incredible way to take your kids around the world -- you can see the locations on a globe and then go explore places like the Great Barrier Reef, a scientists' research station in Antarctica, Pompeii...  They used Google Earth to put these together so it's like you're standing right there and you can turn and look all around you, zoom in and out, etc.  There are also things like the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nelson Mandela Memory Centre.  The Art Project is a link to THOUSANDS of art museums from all around the world.  This is an amazing, free resource we can use to give our kids a lot of the culture they miss growing up in little ol' Goldsboro, or wherever your hometown may be.

Another very cool website (especially for the higher grades) is Real World Math which also incorporates the power of Google Earth.  The lessons here involve things like learning to apply math concepts through studying crop circles, tracking whales, figuring out who needs tsunami warnings, lunar sports, oil spill estimations, racing in the Iditarod...  These real-world and project based learning plans are a great way to bring the common core to life in your classroom.  It's worth some time, even if you only look to get an idea of things you can try in your own classroom that tie in which places/events you study and the math skills you teach.

Elf on the Shelf

He arrived today!  This is the free Elf on the Shelf doll, poster, and storybook I sent for.  You can follow the directions for your own free elf and book in my Freebies post from last week.  Hurry, though!  They were only giving away 5,000!