{"id":2978,"date":"2011-05-23T19:07:25","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T23:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/?p=2978"},"modified":"2013-08-02T22:31:39","modified_gmt":"2013-08-03T02:31:39","slug":"resources-that-rocked-the-classroom-this-year-may-15-to-21-on-readwritethink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/23\/resources-that-rocked-the-classroom-this-year-may-15-to-21-on-readwritethink\/","title":{"rendered":"Resources that Rocked the Classroom This Year: May 15 to 21 on ReadWriteThink"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/55935853@N00\/5242990905\/\" title=\"El Camion Mexicano, Soho, W1 by Ewan-M, on Flickr\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5162\/5242990905_03c54ce6ca_m.jpg?resize=191%2C240\" alt=\"El Camion Mexicano, Soho, W1\" width=\"191\" height=\"240\" class=\"alignright\"><\/a>Now that classes are nearly over, it&rsquo;s that time when I begin reflecting on the year and  deciding which activities I want to be sure to try again next year. I try to think of the <a href=\"http:\/\/community.thinkfinity.org\/thread\/4160\" title=\"Resources that rocked the classroom this year\" target=\"_blank\">resources that surprised me or particularly engaged students<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>One of my favorites is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/lesson-plans\/cooking-descriptive-language-designing-842.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"Cooking Up Descriptive Language: Designing Restaurant Menus\" target=\"_blank\">Cooking Up Descriptive Language: Designing Restaurant Menus<\/a>. It gave students a chance to compose menus that reflected their family and cultural backgrounds, and they were able to learn more about text design and layout. I&rsquo;ll definitely try it again, and I&rsquo;m considering other possibilities for the activity, like using it as a book report alternative by asking students to create a menu for a restaurant that characters in a novel visit (or might visit). It was definitely a keeper!<\/p>\n<p>For more great classroom activities, check out the calendar entries, lesson plans, and classroom activities below for this week. Have a great week! <\/p>\n<p><strong>New Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Share the stories of war,  sacrifice and honor of these heroic women and   men with your students  with this special collection of lessons,   interactives and resources on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thinkfinity.org\/honoring-our-military\" title=\"Honoring Our Military\" target=\"_blank\">Honoring Our Military<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Help students understand  the science of spring with lessons and activities from Thinkfinity.org,  including <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/seeds.sciencenetlinks.com\/\">The Science of Spring<\/a> from Science  NetLinks.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thinkfinity.org\/space-exploration\" target=\"_blank\">Explore the universe<\/a> with your students. Launch rockets, explore planets and test gravity with lessons and interactive tools.<\/li>\n<li>Make the most of summer. Use the Verizon Thinkfinity <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/calendar-activities\/celebrate-first-summer-with-20656.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"Celebrate the first day of summer with summer reading.\" target=\"_blank\">resources to kick off a summer of learning<\/a> for students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>From the Calendar  <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>May 22: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/calendar-activities\/mister-rogers-neighborhood-premiered-20505.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"Mister Rogers' Neighborhood premiered in 1967.\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood<\/em> premiered in 1967<\/a>. After thinking about TV shows, books, and movies from their childhood, students write about what they remember and revisit how they feel about it at an older age. (For grades 7&ndash;12)<\/li>\n<li>May 23: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/calendar-activities\/author-scott-dell-born-20686.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"Author Scott O'Dell was born on this day.\" target=\"_blank\">Author Scott O&#8217;Dell was born on this day<\/a>. Students select a set of books to read and compare fiction and nonfiction books and discuss their findings as a class. Students can follow up by   writing short stories about the topics they explored.(For grades 5&ndash;12)<\/li>\n<li>May 24: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/calendar-activities\/brooklyn-bridge-opened-this-20497.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"The Brooklyn Bridge opened on this day in 1883.\" target=\"_blank\">The Brooklyn Bridge opened on this day in 1883.<\/a> Students explore the literary concept of point of view by examining a pair of picture books that highlight the controversies surrounding the Brooklyn Bridge. (For grades 5&ndash;12)<\/li>\n<li>May 25: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/calendar-activities\/ralph-waldo-emerson-born-20506.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in 1803.\" target=\"_blank\">Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in 1803<\/a>. Students visit a quotation attributed to Emerson and identify the definition of success. Students then use the Postcard Creator to write a note to a person that they feel is successful. (For grades 7&ndash;12)<\/li>\n<li>May 26: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/calendar-activities\/sally-ride-first-american-20524.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"Sally Ride, first American woman in space, was born in 1951.\" target=\"_blank\">Sally Ride, first American woman in space, was born in 1951<\/a>. After exploring information about Sally Ride on the StarKids Who&#8217;s Who site, students write a letter using the Letter Generator to Dr. Ride. (For grades 3&ndash;8)<\/li>\n<li>May 27: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/calendar-activities\/this-1907-rachel-carson-20437.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"On this day in 1907, Rachel Carson was born.\" target=\"_blank\">On this day in 1907, Rachel Carson was born<\/a>. Students learn about Rachel Carson, explore different environmental websites, and write a Diamante Poem about a particular habitat. (For grades 3&ndash;12)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/classroom-resources\/calendar-activities\/?main-tab=week&#038;year=2011&#038;month=05&#038;week=5#main-tabs&#038;utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"Next Week on ReadWriteThink\" target=\"_blank\">Look ahead to next week<\/a> for lesson plans and activities on  Memorial Day, the National Spelling Bee, the debut of CNN, Jesse James, and Walt Whitman.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Connecting with Other Teachers <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Join the <a href=\"http:\/\/community.thinkfinity.org\/groups\/parents\" title=\"Parents and Families Group\" target=\"_blank\">Parents &amp; Families<\/a> group in the Thinkfinity Community to connect with other parents, ask questions from our guest teachers, and learn more about Wonderopolis&reg; and the other resources that will have your kids enjoying science, math, reading and more.<\/li>\n<li>As a teacher, how do you <a href=\"http:\/\/community.thinkfinity.org\/message\/14256#14256\" title=\"How do you inspire students to learn more during the summer?\" target=\"_blank\">inspire students to learn more during the summer<\/a>? Share your ideas on the Thinkfinity Community.<\/li>\n<li>Follow, friend, and connect with all the Thinkfinity partners with this <a href=\"http:\/\/community.thinkfinity.org\/community\/verizonthinkfinity\/blog\/2011\/04\/15\/stay-connected-with-thinkfinityorg-and-our-content-partners\" title=\"Thinkfinity Partners on Facebook, Twitter and More\" target=\"_blank\">collection of links to where to find us<\/a> online.<\/li>\n<li>The end of the school year is fast approaching. <a href=\"http:\/\/community.thinkfinity.org\/message\/16572\" title=\"Marking the End of the School Year in the Classroom\" target=\"_blank\">What do you do in the classroom to help students mark their   accomplishments<\/a>&mdash;and keep them focused on the work that remains?<\/li>\n<li> <a href=\"http:\/\/community.thinkfinity.org\/thread\/4160\" title=\"What resource rocked your classroom this year?\" target=\"_blank\">What resource rocked your classroom<\/a> this year? Share a resource that most surprised you and sample a few that other teachers have shared.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you have feedback or questions about ReadWriteThink, all you have to do is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.readwritethink.org\/util\/contact.html?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=updates&#038;utm_campaign=tlg\" title=\"Contact Us\" target=\"_blank\">contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[Photo: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/55935853@N00\/5242990905\/\" title=\"El Camion Mexicano, Soho, W1 by Ewan-M, on Flickr\" target=\"_blank\">El Camion Mexicano, Soho, W1 by Ewan-M, on Flickr<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that classes are nearly over, it&rsquo;s that time when I begin reflecting on the year and deciding which activities I want to be sure to try again next year. I try to think of the resources that surprised me or particularly engaged students. One of my favorites is Cooking Up Descriptive Language: Designing Restaurant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[281,28,284,283,279,280,282],"class_list":["post-2978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-readwritethink","tag-brooklyn-bridge","tag-emerson","tag-menus","tag-mister-rogers","tag-rachel-carson","tag-sally-ride","tag-scott-odell"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pqzI8-M2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2978"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17178,"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978\/revisions\/17178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tengrrl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}