netTrekker Blog

Werewolves + Volterra =New Moon

How many of you are thinking about skipping school on Friday so you can go see the movie New Moon? Are you trying to figure out a way to make it a classroom field trip? A potential way to study what’s bound to be an upcoming classic? With so many movies out there based on books, I thought it would be fun to take a look at how you could use these in the classroom with netTrekker resources, and we’ll begin with New Moon.

I have a knack for remembering silly little facts, but not important enough facts to be considered a contestant for Jeopardy. Awhile ago I was in the bookstore and saw an apple made out of alabaster that was made in Italy. Since Italy is one of the places I want to visit someday, I decided to look up Italy in netTrekker and also Volterra (although I doubt that I’ll ever want to visit a region that is now at least literally known for their vampires). I found it interesting that the setting of the most powerful (or so they claim) Vampires in Meyer’s world is that of Volterra, especially when I learned that Volterra is special in being a rare location of chalky alabaster. (You can find alabaster all over Europe, but only the chalky form in Volterra). This form of alabaster looks like marble (but is softer) and is either translucent or white in color. Hmmm, sounds like certain vampires I’ve read about.

If the vampires, art, and European geography are not your thing, you can always look up werewolves and Indian legends of North Pacific tribes. (A search on the Quileute tribe itself does not bring up any results yet.) By doing this search I found an interesting site that shared information about a variety of Indian tribes that included information on Jacob Black’s tribe and LaPush. Stories of their trickster can be compared to other folklore from various regions, or you can compare the livelihood of these tribes to their region.

Find more videos like this on netTrekker Village

This summer I used Twilight for a weeklong Integration Class for Language Arts Teachers. We created Google Earth Lit Trips, linking to My Portfolio’s in netTrekker and created Digital Stories. Twilight was a great series to base lessons on. Above is my version of the Digital Story (complete with misspelled word) as a potential student sample.

To learn more about integrating netTrekker into your project based, literature classroom, contact your Account Manager. We’d love to come conduct an integration training with you in the near future!

November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

It would be wonderful to be able to travel to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC to participate in all the great public programs to celebrate Native Heritage Month.  “The theme is:  ‘Living in Many Worlds,’ which explores the dynamic intersection of family, history, and cultural identity.” However, if you can’t get there, I’ve put together a list of resources that will give you a feel for the celebrations.

In Middle:

1.  Enter Museum of the American Indian into the keyword box
   1. 2^nd one down is the Smithsonian Museum.  Click on that.  This is a one-stop website!  Easiest way to get to great collections:
      1.  Click Exhibitions in the red menu bar; then click Online Exhibitions in the red menu on the left hand side.  Find 31 excellent Online Exhibitions.  Some of my favorite are: 
         1.     Beauty Surrounds Us:  breathtaking and culturally significant objects made by Native Peoples
         2.    Identity by Design:  dresses designed by Native women from the Plains, Plateau, and Great Basin regions.  For these artists, dresses are more than simple articles of clothing.  They are evidence of a proud and unbroken tradition, links to the generations of women who have gone before them, and bridges to the future.
         3.     Legends of Our Times:  Native ranching and rodeo life on the plains and plateau.
         4.    The Language of Native American Baskets:  Baskets serve as markers of cultural pride and inheritance.  Some are used on religious occasions.
         5.      I could go on and on, but it is so easy to become totally immersed in these beautiful exhibitions, that you will find your own favorites.
         6.       Of course, we have thousands of websites on Native Americans throughout our subject areas.  Here is an easy way to get the big picture of an outline devoted to Native Americans.  In Middle, enter Native American into the keyword box.  Remember how we talked in a past Trekking post that you can scan the results and look specifically at the taxonomy in the result box for clues about where these sites are living – so that you can find the outline itself?  Take a look at the 2^nd one down.  The taxonomy is:  Social Studies>Sociology>Diverse Population Groups>Ethnic Identity in Multicultural World>Native American.
            1.       Click on Ethnic Identity in Multicultural World.  Now you can see how we set this outline up. 
            2.     Click on Native American.  Now you can see all the categories that we have on Native American.  A lot of these topics will speak to the heritage and culture celebrated during November.
            3. Click on Native American Current Culture.  The first one:  PBS:  Circle of Stories.  This PBS series site captures Native American stories told by the storytellers themselves. Students can also find information on language and land issues confronting Native Americans today.
            4.  I’ll leave you with an absolutely great topic along this subject:    Totem Poles!  We have beautiful sites on these magnificent pieces of Native American art:  Simply enter Totem Poles into the keyword box. 
            5. Thanks!

Glogging It

This past weekend I was invited to hang out with the Florida Discovery Educator Network at SeaWorld for a great learning event. The teachers learned how to create a waypoint for geocaching and how to create a Glog as a way to share what they have learned. Being the netTrekker fanatic that I am, I created a SeaWorld folder with resources, a link to a map to use with geocaching in the classroom, classroom project ideas and a link to my Glog. Unfortunately, you can’t access this project folder unless you are at my school. However, if you want a copy of it, leave a message of how to reach you and I’ll move the folder to your school or district.

Aside from catching up with good friends and making new ones, the fun part for me was creating the Glog. I chose to do one on Polar Bears. Unfortunately this exhibit was closed (SeaWorld is getting ready for sharing their Polar Express), so I couldn’t add any photos I took first hand. However, netTrekker did point me to a great video and some interesting facts.

For those of you new to Glogster, it’s a way to posterize your knowledge with graphics, text, video, images, and even sound! (The sound I found in a resource under References!) The even better thing is that they now have an “edu” version. If the regular version of Glogster was once blocked, I encourage you to see if this version can now be made available. It’s a great way for students to be creative in sharing their knowledge.

Quick note about the video, I ended up using the link from YouTube. The same video is on a website found in netTrekker, but it didn’t have the link-ability that YouTube has. Sorry about that!

My Portfolio is a great way to organize complete projects. One of the things you can do is add links to outside resources, which is especially a safe and easy way to have students post their projects. The link(s) you add will not show up in netTrekker as a whole, but rather in your portfolio, for your students to view.

Anyone up for a free webinar on Glogster? I’d love to share what I learned! Or contact your account manager to learn how to book your next professional development with us to learn how to integrate netTrekker with many great tools out there!

Tags: DEN, Glogster, netTrekker, polar bears, professional development, SeaWorld

Veterans Among Us

Before I talk about sites in nT for Veterans Day, I’d like to point out that we are honored to have among us on the nT staff some Vets of Desert Storm and Desert Shield.  Jeff Carter served in the Air Force in 1991.  Thomas Bain served in the Army and is the third generation to do so!    Thanks for your service to our Country!

Also, Mike Logan’s son Luk is now serving in Afghanistan.  We have his address if you would like to send encouraging cards and letters!  Lots of pride on Mike’s part, but I’m sure lots of worry as well!

If anyone else served or has relatives/spouses that have or are currently in the Service, please reply to this blog.  We would love to know. 

Allow me a personal note in that regard:  My Dad was in WWII as a pilot and was shot down over Germany.  I am proof that he made it back, but I remember hearing that story – how he landed the damaged plane.  He was injured and received the Purple Heart, which I now have.  Incredible to think of, isn’t it?

Veterans Day sites in nT.

In Middle

1. Simply type in “veterans” in the keyword box.
2. I like the first site:  Library of Congress:  Experiencing War:  Stories from the Veterans History Project.  The LOC does a great job in grouping these stories by themes.  Click on Courage for some incredible tales.  Interviews and photos are available.  “Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do.”  Eddie Rickenbacker
3. Again, the third one down is from the LOC.  I love this site for schools because it outlines how to interview a vet and submit their story into the LOC collection.  This is a great resource for students to use.
4. The 7^th one down is VA Kids from the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Click on the Bugler for great information on the origin of Veterans Day, activities for Veterans Day, The History of the Purple Heart Award, and much more.  This site is for the younger student.  VA Kids 6-12 grade is directly below it and offers heart-warming stories that students volunteering at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital wrote about vets they met there.
5. Another site, not in this search however, that came to my attention is the American Red Cross site:  http://www.redcross.org/.  You can find it if you put American Red Cross into the search box.   Their home page is the 5^th one down on the page.  You will see under Red Cross News their Holiday Mail for Heroes.  Students (or anyone) can send personal messages to Service Men and Women:  http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.94aae335470e233f6cf911df43181aa0/?vgnextoid=68f35ed38bfa4210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

Thanks!