Smithsonian Election Articles

Eight of America's Most Unusual Polling Places

How Girls Have Brought Political Change to America
The history of activism in young girls, who give voice to important issues in extraordinary ways, is the topic of a new Smithsonian exhibition.

When Pulling a Lever Tallied the Vote
An innovative 1890s gear-and-lever voting machine mechanized the counting of the ballots so they could be tallied in minutes, not hours or days.

The Debate Over Mail-In Voting Dates Back to the Civil War
In 1864, Democrats and Republicans clashed over legislation allowing soldiers to cast their ballots from the front.

The Voting Machine That Displayed Different Ballots Based on Your Sex
In an era of partial suffrage, these inventions helped women cast their votes.

Eight Lessons for the Presidential Debates
What are the key do’s and don’ts the candidates should remember when campaigning for the White House?

How to Save Your Election Day Newspaper
Here’s what you need to know to preserve your copy of history.

Podcast: History of Electoral College

The Daily podcast yesterday was about the history of the electoral college and the evolution of the winner-take-all system. I like how the host asks good questions to bring the story out. You may find it useful or interesting.

A Peculiar Way to Pick a President
Hosted by Michael Barbaro; produced by Luke Vander Ploeg, Rachel Quester, Leslye Davis and Rachelle Bonja; and edited by M.J. Davis Lin.
In two of the past five presidential elections, the Electoral College awarded the White House to the loser of the popular vote. Is the system broken?

Classics For Kids

Excerpt of Scout report description: 
"Produced by Cincinnati Public Radio, Classics for Kids produces podcast episodes and lesson plans that are free to caregivers and teachers and has a dedicated page for each audience to highlight resources of interest. Classics for Kids is supported by the Charles H. Dater Foundation and NAXOS

• Music educators should check out the "Teaching Can Thrive Online" post 
• Under the Composers tab users will find brief biographies of various music moguls. More information on these figures can be found via the Classics for Kids podcast. 
• Six-minute episodes, released weekly, introduce listeners to composers and their work. 
• For more fun content, check out the Games and Music sections, which feature a variety of musically inclined materials."

Classics (of the Musical Kind) for Kids

Scout report says Classics for Kids is "Produced by Cincinnati Public Radio, Classics for Kids is bringing the "joy of music" to your living room or classroom. The program produces podcast episodes and lesson plans that are free to caregivers and teachers and has a dedicated page for each audience to highlight resources of interest. Classics for Kids is supported by the Charles H. Dater Foundation and NAXOS."

• Music educators worried about transitioning the choir room to Zoom should check out the "Teaching Can Thrive Online" post (featured on the Home page)
• Under the Composers tab users will find brief biographies of various music moguls. 
• More information on these figures can be found via the Classics for Kids podcast. These six-minute episodes, released weekly, introduce listeners to composers and their work. Readers can find the podcast linked at the bottom of the website and can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher. 
• For more fun content, check out the Games and Music sections, which feature a variety of musically inclined materials. 

The Daily: Electoral College

 The Daily today was about the history of the electoral college and the evolution of the winner-take-all system. I like how the host asks good questions to bring the story out. You may find it useful or interesting.

SoundJack to manipulate sound delay for collaborating

From WBUR: 

"It's hard to play live music together, remotely. That fact has been highlighted by the pandemic. Many ensembles have tried rehearsing via Zoom and Skype. And entire musical seasons have been scrapped. But some faculty and students from the New England Conservatory are trying out an old technology that's giving new life to their music-making.

"At the beginning of the pandemic, he found himself scrounging for audio platforms that would allow him to seamlessly play music with people remotely. Zoom just wasn't cutting it. He tried JamKazam. Jamulus. Jacktrip. But Howell said none of them worked like a software called SoundJack, which allows users to manipulate the delay to the point where there is no delay."

Tech From The 1990s Is Helping Musicians Play In Time While Apart

Six Word Memoirs

You may be interested in the Six Word Memoir Project. There's a section on their website called "Six in Schools" including the following:

Here are a few useful links to start your Six Journey:

• New! “My Life Now: Six Words on the Pandemic” Teaching Guides (which also takes you to three more free Six-Word Teaching Guides)
• Welcome teachers & guidelines for posting on Six-Word Memoirs
• A video about the Six-Word Memoir project
• Bring Six-Word Memoir creator Larry Smith to your school or classroom

We love to feature students using Six-Word Memoirs.
Keep us posted on your latest projects — contact us at news@smithmag.net

Six Word Memoirs

Six Word Memoirs website includes many resources for teachers, including:

• New! “My Life Now: Six Words on the Pandemic” Teaching Guides (which also takes you to three more free Six-Word Teaching Guides)
• Welcome teachers & guidelines for posting on Six-Word Memoirs
• A video about the Six-Word Memoir project
• Bring Six-Word Memoir creator Larry Smith to your school or classroom

We love to feature students using Six-Word Memoirs.
Keep us posted on your latest projects — contact us at news@smithmag.net

Student Event about Electoral College Thurs. Oct. 22

The New York Times is hosting a live event for students about the Electoral College on Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. Eastern. They encourage teachers to register if they plan on having a class participate in school, or have each of their students 13 and up register if they will be participating from home.

Jesse Wegman, a member of the Times’s Editorial Board is one of the members of the Oct. 22 panel, In addition to Mr. Wegman, they'll be joined by Allyson Waller, part of the 2020-21 New York Times Fellowship class, who recently published the article “How Does the Electoral College Work and Why Does It Matter?”

Two resources:

• Our Student Opinion question, asking students: Is the Electoral College a problem? Does it need to be fixed?
• Our Lesson of the Day, inviting students to play with an interactive diagram, watch a short video, read an explainer article, and develop their own point of view about the Electoral College.

Best Live Animal Feeds

NY Times: The Best Live Animal Feeds From Around the World

"Research shows that watching footage of them can make you happier, so here’s a list of round-the-clock camera footage that will bring koalas, penguins and puppies straight to your screen."

If you can't pull this up because you've used your free views up, here are some of the links from the article.

• https://explore.org/livecams/warrior-canine-connection/service-puppy-cam
• https://explore.org/livecams/service-dog-project/great-danes-puppy-nursery-cam
• https://explore.org/livecams/currently-live/kitten-rescue-baby-kittens
• https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams
• https://explore.org/livecams/african-wildlife/gorilla-forest-corridor
• https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams/jelly-cam
• https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams
• https://explore.org/livecams/panda-bears/china-panda-cam-1
• https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

OK Go Music & STEM lessons

There are a bunch of lessons that tie into OK Go videos - many STEM related and some are music related. Could be great for the Be Brave Board!
https://okgosandbox.org/

Here's some more information from the Scout Report:
From song and dance to STEAM and dance, Ok Go Sandbox reminds users that learning can, and should, be fun. Using music videos from the group Ok Go as a launching point, the site provides "an online resource for educators," with "guided inquiry challenges allowing students to explore various STEAM concepts." Under the Lessons tab, readers will find six educational units. Each curriculum page features an embedded music video and corresponding lesson plan (or plans, in some cases). For example, Upside Down and Inside Out, a video exploring physics and gravity, provides math, science, and art lesson plans. Lessons are labeled with the appropriate grade level and common core state standards. In addition to the educational materials, the site has some fun bonus features. On the More page readers will find behind-the-scenes content from Ok Go, and the Ask Ok Go tab features a series of "question and answer" style videos with the group. Ok Go Sandbox is sponsored by Google, Morton Salt, and Cognizant.--

OK Go Sandbox

This looks so fun! I love OK Go videos and kids do too.

There are a bunch of lessons that tie into OK Go videos - many STEM related and some are music related. Could be great for the Be Brave Board!
https://okgosandbox.org/

Here's some more information from the Scout Report:
...provides "an online resource for educators," with "guided inquiry challenges allowing students to explore various STEAM concepts." Under the Lessons tab, readers will find six educational units. Each curriculum page features an embedded music video and corresponding lesson plan (or plans, in some cases). For example, Upside Down and Inside Out, a video exploring physics and gravity, provides math, science, and art lesson plans. Lessons are labeled with the appropriate grade level and common core state standards. In addition to the educational materials, the site has some fun bonus features. On the More page readers will find behind-the-scenes content from Ok Go, and the Ask Ok Go tab features a series of "question and answer" style videos with the group. Ok Go Sandbox is sponsored by Google, Morton Salt, and Cognizant.

Google Tool Turns Tuneless Humming Into Music

From Classic FM: Genius Google tool turns your tuneless humming into a lovely violin solo. "Using your phone or desktop, you can transform any unpolished melody into a violin, saxophone, flute or trumpet solo. And when we say unpolished melody, we literally mean any noise. Honestly, anything."

Science Friday Projects for Home or School

Came across these over the weekend - some great lessons from Science Friday

Some examples:

• Challenge: Create Something New Using Plastic Bags - Your challenge is to repurpose plastic shopping bags to create something new and useful. The sky’s the limit, whether you’re making a prom dress, area rug, a dog poncho, or a kite!
• Challenge: Make Your Own Paint - Say you run out of paint, what should you do? Make paint from scratch! Learn about pigments and get experimenting in this DIY paint challenge.
• Challenge: Cardboard - What can you build with cardboard? Build something really impressive out of cardboard in this open-ended cardboard challenge for all ages.
• Challenge: Simulate A Sneeze - Make sneeze art, and learn a bit about fluid dynamics in the process
• Go On A Metal Hunt! - A magnet and a penny will help you become a human metal detector.
• Science Friday Remote Learning Kit - Teachers, Science Friday has updated some of our classic education resources so you can assign them directly to students from your Google Drive.
• ... and more!

Google Classroom Notifications

Are you confused by Google Classroom notifications? Is your email box or those of your students overflowing with notices? Or do you want to only get certain ones? Do you have parents looking for updates on assignments in Google Classroom?

I made this video in the spring and if you want written directions for these things, click here. Note: I did this in April, so it's possible a few things have changed slightly.

After the Fact podcast focuses on science

After the Fact is an excellent podcast that I've listened to sometimes. It's done by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Each week they take a specific statistic or data point and use it as a jumping off point for a discussion and interview. Some of these might work for your students, and even if they don't, you may find them of personal interest!

This season's theme is Conversations on Science—what it is, how it’s conducted and explained to the public, and how it affects our lives.

"During the pandemic, the world is living through a science experiment. We’ll examine that as well as how scientists build trust with nonscientists, how to increase diversity among researchers, and how science becomes public policy. We speak with scientists and researchers—from Dr. Anthony Fauci and Pew Biomedical Scholar Pamela Bjorkman, who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, to “Science Friday” host Ira Flatow and physicist and bestselling author Carlo Rovelli, who speak about the scientific process and why it matters."

Sidewalk Poetry Contest Deadline Wed 9/30

Beverly Main Streets & the Beverly Arts District is running a Sidewalk Poetry contest. Residents of any age are invited to submit poetry for the chance to get their words stamped in concrete! We will be embedding the four winning poems permanently into sidewalks downtown.
They will select four winners, whose poems will be embedded in sidewalks downtown, and who will receive a stipend of $150! Four runners up will have their poems shared online.

Click here to find out more about specific requirements for this contest.

The deadline is this Wednesday, September 30.

Mass. STEM Week Oct 19-23

Massachusetts STEM Week 2020 takes place from October 19 – 23 (inclusive of the weekend before and after), and is organized by the Executive Office of Education and the STEM Advisory Council in partnership with the state’s 9 Regional STEM Networks. It is a statewide effort to boost the interest, awareness and ability for all learners to envision themselves in STEM education and employment opportunities, and compliment the formal instruction happening in the Commonwealth beyond STEM week.
The theme for the third annual statewide STEM Week is “See Yourself in STEM,” with a particular focus on the power of mentoring. Women, people of color, first-generation students, low-income individuals, English language learners, and people with disabilities are underrepresented in STEM industries and make up an increasing portion of the overall workforce, but the demographics of STEM fields have remained largely the same. We need more young people to see themselves in STEM.


More info at https://www.massstemweek.org/

SEL Checkin Slides

How is everyone doing? Use these  great SEL checkin slides

• You can post these in your real or virtual classroom
• You can put the on a jamboard and have people circle what they feel like
• You can put it into a google form and ask kids to say how they're doing so you can share results anonymously and show them that everyone is somewhere different each day, but you can capture what they say in case you need to follow up
• You can have kids discuss in small groups
• You can use it with each other in staff meetings!
• etc. etc.

Apps in Self Service

I've made a list of apps that are currently in Self Service for the iPads, noting the subject or skill they apply to, what they are best at doing, a description that mostly comes from whatever the publisher puts in the app store and a link to the app store for more info.

We will probably have other ways to organize or communicate this info as the year goes on, and this list is in the process of being updated, but I wanted to get this to you now so that you have something to refer to easily. I know it's confusing to scan the list of apps without a little more info about some of them!