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.

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."