More ebook access

Public Library Connect is now working. This means that using the Sora app, students have access to a statewide library of ebooks and audiobooks we pay to access, they can also now get access to the books in the Beverly library's Overdrive ebook/eaudio collection without needing a public library card! 

This is a big win so I'm really excited to tell you about this.

The setup is pretty easy but there are a few steps. I'm going to work on creating some help documents, videos and presentations that can be used asynchronously, but I'm also happy to meet with you or your students to show you/them how to do it. It's a one-time setup.

With Sora we can also purchase (at a cost) books for short term class set use or longer term use. There are a lot of different models, which depend on the book and the publisher, so ask me if you're interested.

There are lots of other things that are accessible to those with public library cards too, so I'd still like as many of our students as possible to have their own cards. I'm working with 6th grade teachers on this process but can do a library card drive with any team.

Sea Shanty Database

From Research Buzz:

"Mainsail Café, a database of sea shanties and traditional nautical songs. The site contains information on almost 400 songs and over 120 albums. There's also a collection of 47 printed items here. I get the impression this site is still filling out, but there's already a lot to explore here, and there's a great feature to pull random entries from the categories you're exploring. One thing I noticed: no ads at all. Not even affiliate links in the album/book lists. Recommended."

Explore the World With These 100 Country Quizzes

Since 2017, the NY Times Learning Network has been publishing a five-question “Country of the Week” quiz based on The Times’s travel coverage, news reporting and photojournalism to help build students’ geography skills.

Each Monday morning during the school year they release a new quiz, and this month they published their 100th one. To mark the milestone, all the quizzes published so far are organized by continent in one index. 

NYT 2nd Annual STEM Writing Contest

The New York Times invites students to choose an issue or question in science, technology, engineering, math or health, then write an engaging 500-word explanation. 

Contest Dates: Jan. 19-March 2, 2021. 

Students ages 11-19 anywhere in the world attending middle or high school can participate.

Take a look at the full guidelines and related resources on this page.

Here is a PDF one-page announcement for students.

Science and Social Justice

I attended a PBS Learning Media Educator Peer Exchange webinar last night about Science and Social Justice and found it pretty interesting.

Here is the slide deck and I'd be happy to discuss more of it if you are interested!

Also see GBH Research

Tomorrow's Engineers Website

This is a UK site but may still have some interesting/useful things for you or your students.

FE News: New website to help inspire the next generation of diverse engineers. "brings together free advice and guidance, curated from across the engineering community, to support practitioners in providing young people with engineering careers inspiration. The website includes the latest thinking on a range of topics, from how to run virtual events and top tips for ensuring an inclusive approach, to how to survey young people and improve engaging outreach activities."

Middle School DESE/One8 Science Grant

The Department is partnering with the One8 Foundation to launch a new middle school OpenSciEd Cohort Program! 

The school grant application is due Friday, February 12. To learn more about the grant opportunity, eligibility, and expectations, see this flyer and the online application. Building off the three-year middle school pilot, DESE is working to scale the innovative middle school science curriculum to schools across the Commonwealth. As part of the new cohort, schools can apply for grants to help implement the program, access in-state training, and receive additional support and complimentary programming.

The One8 Foundation is hosting an information session and office hours to help schools complete the application. Please click on a link below to register.

• Information session: 3:00-4:00 on Wednesday, January 20
• Office hours: 8:00-9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 3
• Office hours: 3:00-4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9

Citizen Science - Smithsonian Magazine

Twenty-Four Ways to Turn Outdoor Passions Into Citizen Science

By Marcello Rossi from SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
DECEMBER 29, 2020

Heading into the new year, consider collecting scientific data while skiing, hiking, surfing, biking and partaking in other adventures

We the Young People - Teen Inauguration Special

We the Young People - Teen Inauguration Special
PBS NewsHour and Student Reporting Labs presented a special for digital and broadcast distribution on January 14 highlighting the impact of young voters and exploring the change they want to see from the new administration. I watched a lot of this tonight, but it's confusing because you have to start 15 min. in! I have bookmarked the different sections for you:

Introduction

Yamiche Alcindor talks to 3 young women about representation and role models in media & politics

Student interviews a high school history teacher who says "don't take democracy for granted" & quotes from students about how they are feeling and what they want to ask.

Teen interviews 3 young elected officials

18 year old HS student who is a new voter discusses her thoughts on becoming a voter this past year with a teacher

Discussion with students who are teen MediaWise "fact checkers" about misinformation

Amna Nawaz interviews young activists who work on gun violence prevention, environmentalism, community safety & equity issues

Hope you and maybe some of your students enjoy this!

Primary Source free civics program

Primary Source is offering a free civics program next Wednesday, January 27th, 9am-3:pm offered through Primary Source.

Our Rights and Nothing Less is a one-day workshop developed in partnership with Mass Historical Society and the Collaborative for Education Services. Focusing on African Americans, women, and people with disabilities, this virtual workshop introduces content, themes, resources, and teaching strategies to foster students’ awareness of the personal sacrifices and collective efforts made in the effort to secure the right to be heard and influence the governing of this country.

Registration is free and open to the public--- please self-register here on the Primary Source website.

See below for the scheduled sessions:

• Keynote Address - Dr. John Bracey, UMass Amherst
• Teaching the Intersection of Race and Gender in Voting History - Dan Osborn, Primary Source
• Teaching the Suffrage and Anti -Suffrage Movements with Primary Sources - Elyssa Tardif and Kate Melchior, Massachusetts Historical Society
• A Failed System for 38 Million Voters with Disabilities - Rich Cairn, Collaborative for Educational Services; Lisa Schur, Rutgers University; Doug Kruse, Rutgers University

MLK Jr. Day Events

In case you are interested this weekend - I made a list of virtual MLK Jr. Day events going on locally and nationally, from Sunday through Friday, and information about MLK Jr. Day. It may help you to find ways to observe the King Holiday in a meaningful manner even though we can't gather in person. And let's be honest -- virtual events can be easier and more convenient to attend!

It includes information about the Beverly Human Rights Committee's event that is on Monday at 9am which will include a montage from Beverly students and words from a variety of people, including BPS's own Dr. André Morgan.

NY Times: Article about ELL student challenges

With Remote Learning, a 12-Year-Old Knows Her English Is Slipping Away
By Juliana Kim
Dec. 29, 2020

In New York City, 142,000 children are learning English in school. Online classes are especially challenging for them.

Museum of Science at School Signup

From the Museum of Science in Boston - some of these FREE programs may be of interest! According to DESE we have 28.9% of students who are classed as "economically disadvantaged" which means we would qualify for priority bookings that begin on January 7!

Hello Educators,

We hope you had a nice break and were able to recharge. At the Museum, we were busy putting the finishing touches on our next season of MOS at School offerings!

Starting on January 19, we'll have presentations around Earth, Space, and Life Sciences as well as special one-time offerings about climate change for high school students. These free programs are offered via Zoom webinar from our Boston, MA Museum during school hours (Eastern Standard Time).

Priority reservations for schools with free and reduced lunch participation at or above 35% and/or a population of economically disadvantaged students at or above 25% as well as Catholic Schools will be open at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 7.

To book a program, call Science Central at 617-723-2500.

General reservations for all other schools will be open at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, January 11.

Updated citizenship test questions

You may be interested to see the updated bank of questions used for citizenship tests. The new test takes effect tomorrow, Dec. 1. According to this USCIS press release, "The revised test includes more questions that test the applicant’s understanding of U.S. history and civics, in line with the statutory requirements, and covers a variety of topics that provide the applicant with more opportunities to learn about the United States as part of the test preparation process."

You can see the bank of 128 questions here

Indigenous Music

You may be interested in these -- recommended by this week's Scout Report - go there for descriptions.

RUMBLE ON: MORE NATIVE AMERICAN MUSICIANS YOU SHOULD KNOW

INDIGEFI

The Great Thanksgiving Listen

I posted this on Homeward Bound and thought you might be interested as well:

Thanksgiving Activity: Interview Family Members

We hope you all enjoy your (likely, smaller and cozier than usual) Thanksgiving holiday gatherings this weekend. A great activity, whether you are with your family in person or connecting with them by phone or video call, is to interview each other to uncover family stories. 

The nonprofit organization StoryCorps is a fantastic resource and encourages you to participate in #TheGreatThanksgivingListen, "a national movement that empowers young people—and people of all ages—to create an oral history of the contemporary United States by recording an interview with an elder, mentor, friend, or someone they admire."

StoryCorps has an app you can use for in-person interviews with built-in questions to choose from and the ability to upload those interviews to the Library of Congress. There is also an online component, StoryCorps Connect, which allows you to record interviews that are conducted online from separate locations.

You don't need technology to have these conversations -- all you really need are insightful questions, and StoryCorps has them! We encourage adults to interview their children, as well as children to interview their elders. 

2020 may sometimes feel like a year to forget -- but in the future we will look back and want to remember what we were doing and feeling. StoryCorps interviews are a great way to do it! 

Thanksgiving Resources

I put a Google Slides up on the Be Brave Board in celebration of Native American Heritage Month, which is in November. It includes a few videos, a Google Voyager activity, and a bunch of book recommendations. It's mostly not "about" Thanksgiving, although there is one video that touches on it. I also created a Land Acknowledgement, with may be worth showing to classes - it contains a link to an article that explains what land acknowledgements are.

Sam Tetreau provided these resources to us as well:

Hope your week is going well. With Thanksgiving coming up I started thinking about some of the harmful activities I personally used to do as a kid, such as making "Headdresses." So I thought I would share resources that help with teaching the Holiday in a culturally appropriate way and with Indigenous Peoples point of views. I'm sure many of you already have some great resources but I hope this helps!

A Racial Justice Guide to Thanksgiving for Educators and Families (there are SO many resources here - all grades) - One of my friends from another district teaches middle school and like this activity You are the Historian . It is an interactive self paced digital activity! 

The NEA provides resources from Native Educators (all grades I believe). My favorite was this resource that gives detailed lesson plans!

Fact Checking

The Duke Reporters’ Lab maintains a database of global fact-checking sites. Snopes is one of the best-known, but there are others. You can use the map to explore sites around the world or use the menu below. (Here’s more how they identify fact-checkers.)

The World Health Organization has 7 tips on how to spot false information about the pandemic.

1. Assess the source
2. Go beyond headlines
3. Identify the author
4. Check the date
5. Examine the supporting evidence
6. Check your biases
7. Turn to fact-checkers (they cite the International Fact Checking Network)

Here is an animated GIF from theWorld Health Organization (WHO) from an article Let’s flatten the infodemic curve.

World Geography Week - Scout Report

This week's Scout Report highlights MS and HS lessons for World Geography Week. Follow these links for more details on each resource.

• World Geography Lesson Plans
• World Geography Games
• 10 Map Types in Visualization: Make Your Data Eye-Catching
• The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) YouTube Channel

Elect the Best Books of 2020

This might be a fun thing to offer to your students and spur a few conversations about who has read which books. Voting closes on Monday 11/9.

Elect the Best Books of 2020
https://www.kidsvoteforbooks.com/

While adults are voting at the polls, kids and teens across Massachusetts have the opportunity to virtually vote for their favorite book.

Voting is open from 10/26/20 - 11/9/20.

Results will be available on 11/12/20 on the website - and I'll send out that info to share with students.

Interested in getting books for yourself or your students? Check this document for details about apps and links to other info.