Tools 4 Tuesday: Free Books!

Meeting a need for reduced cost and increased digital literacy (literally!), here are two options for free books for schools (and parents, students) to consider... 

And remember, FREE IS GOOD (but it may have limitations)...

 

CK-12: customizable, free, curriculum-aligned content for K-12

Mostly STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), but also includes some SAT prep, history, English composition, even spelling! Review and choose chapters for your own e-Book, which can be downloaded as a PDF, viewed online as HTML with animations and videos, or viewed online as an e-book (with flipping pages). 

=====================

ePubBooks

Free EPUB eBooks, which includes mostly classics and/or public domain titles.

Here are just a few of the MANY available (view online, but download with one of the devices listed below):

• Oliver Twist
• Little Women
• Pinocchio
• Alice in Wonderland 
• Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
• Doctor Dolittle
• Aesop's Fables
• The Prince
• Robinson Crusoe
• Scarlet Letter
• Moby Dick
• David Copperfield
• Wuthering Heights

Read eBooks on your smart phone, iPad, Nook, Sony Reader, and links to get free downloads for Amazon's Kindle (see full list of compatible devices here - http://www.epubbooks.com/ebook-readers )

Fun Friday: Texting Typos Anyone? :-)

As more of us delve further into 21st century communications, we're certain send more texts than ever before. And thanks to the wonderful invention of Auto-Correct, sometimes I'm sure you wish you had proofread before you sent a few of those many texts!

Oh, how we wish we'd apply the simple rules of professionally written language to our informal chatter... or that an Undo or Cancel button would be available to STOP it before it was sent! (really... a 10 second delay is all we would need in most cases!)

If you haven't seen these yet, the Ellen Show has done a few segments on "Clumsy Thumbsy" (each about 2-3 minutes long, with an ad in the beginning)...  Enjoy, but be ready for loud laughter!!! (may want to watch after hours so no one questions you... but see below for the REAL EDUCATIONAL VALUE to all this... AND remember the importance of PROOFREADING before you SEND!)

January 2012 episode

November 2011 episode

This can be a valid lesson for your students! (maybe not shwing them the Ellen clips... careful with appropriateness), but you can simulate your own text messages at iFakeText.com... which could actually have some educational value, for example:

• teach students to communicate appropriately with different audiences
• sentence structure and grammar practice
• simulate text messages between famous historical figures, whether alive at the same time or not! (e.g. - George Washington and John Adams; Steve Jobs and Bill Gates; Adolph Hitler and Napoleon; Margaret Thatcher and Hillary Clinton; etc.)
• foreign language conversations (or vocab review)
• spelling list or vocab list (with or without examples or definitions)
• See more examples at Tammy W's site...

P.S. - There are many other websites with funny text message typos, but many are NOT school appropriate... therefore, not included here.  ;-)


.

Thinking Thursday: Computational Thinking

Watch the 4-minute video on Computational Thinking

Highlights:

• Think beyond what IS to what COULD BE...
• Computational Thinking = Critical Thinking + Power of Computing
• It's a Digital Skill for EVERYONE!!!

There are so many problems in the world today that will require good thinkers and talented creatives to find solutions... or better yet, ways to AVOID or PREVENT many of the problems of today!

What could you do with the processing power of ALL human brains on Earth in 2050?

Learn more at ISTE's site: http://www.iste.org/learn/computational-thinking.aspx

Wonder Wednesday: Most Important Critical Thinking Skill(s)

Participate in the poll above... (by Feb. 9)

This month's poll is about Critical Thinking... What is the most important (or CRITICAL) Thinking skill to teach students today? (You can select more than one)

RECAP:
The last Wonder Wednesday poll saw a 3-way tie for the Favorite Teacher-Focused movie... Stand & Deliver, Dead Poets Society, and Pay It Forward all received 5 votes (click the image to see it larger)