Your brain wires itself to match your native language

 Your brain wires itself to match your native language

Wiring patterns seem to reflect grammatical characteristics specific to different languages

Brain Breaks

I stumbled across this nice set of Brain Breaks I scanned from a spiral bound book a while back that could be good to use during short breaks in MCAS. They only take 1-2 minutes and most can be done sitting or standing in place.

DEIB Speaker & Resources

MSLA had an excellent DEIB keynote speaker named Lawrence Alexander. He lives in South Dartmouth, MA. He may be someone to think about if we are ever looking for a good DEIB speaker for our educators. 

Lawrence recommended writings by Elizabeth Pryor, and It turns out that she has an upcoming webinar through the National Humanities Center on April 13th called "The N-Word in the Classroom: Teaching Racist Language without Harm." Her webinar and a some other fantastic looking ones (all free but requiring registration) can be found online here. Some happened already and you can view the recordings, while others are coming up and people can register for them
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/education-programs/webinars/

Somerville company rolls out menstrual pads… on a roll

Somerville company rolls out menstrual pads… on a roll

I'm not sure if this is something we might or might not be interested, but I did want to draw your attention to the fact that there are districts here in Mass. that make period products available to all staff and students who might need them, like Cambridge. In addition, this article highlights yet another creative solution to the issue of menstrual supplies and equity. There are new things coming up all the time!

Vedad Konjic, director of facilities for Cambridge Public Schools, said he "has made it a mission for years now to bring free, quality, and accessible period products to its staff and students."

BBC Future Articles about Language

These BBC Future articles were fascinating!

How dyslexia changes in other languages

Writing in English can be a challenge – even if it's your mother tongue.

The weird way language affects our sense of time and space

The languages we speak can have a surprising impact on the way we think about the world and even how we move through it.

Books Recommended by BMS Staff

Here's a presentation to share with your students with some recommended books.

If you want to add to it, please fill out this form.
https://forms.gle/ftE3HkdQZ8qS4Sde9

New Research Explores the Rise of Digital Music-Making in Schools

Syracuse University: ‘The Barriers Have Been Removed!’ New Research Explores the Rise of Digital Music-Making in Schools During COVID-19. "New research by David Knapp, assistant professor of music education in the School of Education and College of Visual and Performing Arts, sets out to assess the extent to which creating, arranging and storing digital music online has increased in music education classrooms, especially during and after the coronavirus pandemic that sent learning online in 2020-2021."

Missing the Home You Needed to Leave

Missing the Home You Needed to Leave

There is a name for the specific type of grief that both refugees and migrants experience. It’s called “cultural bereavement.”

Civic Learning Week

The first-ever national Civic Learning Week runs from March 6–March 10, 2023

CivXNow coalition

In honor of the intrinsic connection civics has to ELA and literacy education, NCTE has compiled resources accessible to a variety of audiences, including a recently published guide, Reading, Writing, & Raising Voices: The Centrality of Literacy to Civic Education.  

Access resources for civic learning engagement

Looking for other ways to engage or spark inspiration? Attend a virtual event hosted by partner organizations, including a student-facing conversation with Associate Supreme Court Justice of the United States Sonia Sotomayor on Friday, March 10! You can even attend virtual portions of the Opening Forum at the National Archives on Tuesday, March 7, by registering here.

See the full list of events and register

Join the excitement and share how your classes are celebrating Civic Learning Week on social media with #CivicLearningWeek.

General Resource Databases

General Resource Databases - Middle School Level

Gale in Context: Middle School
link: https://libraries.state.ma.us/login?db=MSIC&locid=mlin_n_bmscho
Made specifically for middle schoolers, this resource combines reference content with age-appropriate videos, newspapers, magazines, primary sources, and much more.

Britannica School: Middle School
link: https://libraries.state.ma.us/login?db=MSIC&locid=mlin_n_bmscho
With easy-to-read articles and age-appropriate reference and learning materials, the middle school level of Britannica Online School Edition is ideal for 6th-8th grade students.

Constitution Scavenger Hunt with Political Cartoons

Constitution Scavenger Hunt with Political Cartoons from National Archives

In this lesson, students will analyze 16 political cartoons drawn by Clifford and Jim Berryman during the early to mid-20th century. They will search through the Constitution and associate each cartoon with a specific clause. Through networking exercises, students will analyze all 16 cartoons and read the entire Constitution. They will learn about the outline and structure of the Constitution, as well as the content of many of its clauses.

Phonics Is Critical—but True Literacy Requires More

Phonics Is Critical—but True Literacy Requires More


you mean there's no silver bullet?

Facilitating Student-Led Civics Projects: Resources for Idea Development

Facilitating Student-Led Civics Projects: Resources for Idea Development
March 8 @ 5:30 p.m. ET

In this virtual session, participants will explore different strategies for brainstorming and reflection that catalyze student-led civic inquiry and action. Participants will take away resources for facilitating civics projects from the new civics curriculum, Supporting Readiness through Vital Civic Empowerment (SRVCE), which blends inquiry-based civic learning, media literacy education, and exploration of careers in public service.

https://civiclearningweek.org/event/facilitating-student-led-civics-projects-resources-for-idea-development/

German Fact-Checking Website

German Press Agency: "Facts against fakes": New website tackles internet disinformation. "Under the title 'Facts against Fakes,' fact-checking organizations from Germany and Austria offer up-to-date articles on false information currently being circulated on the internet. This creates the largest freely-accessible archive of fact checks in the German language. In addition, the site provides learning opportunities to promote media literacy among citizens, as well as many research articles."

A Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled

This article was pretty eye-opening.

A Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled: A very strange conversation with the chatbot built into Microsoft’s search engine led to it declaring its love for me.

One part of this article in particular made me wonder what will happen when a person who is having some challenges - particularly a lonely teen who doesn't know how AI works (and I barely do), starts chatting with Bing's chatbot. I think there are scenarios that would not end well at all. If we thought we had to be concerned about what kids say to other kids on social media, get ready to worry about what AI chatbots say to them:

"The other persona — Sydney — is far different. It emerges when you have an extended conversation with the chatbot, steering it away from more conventional search queries and toward more personal topics. The version I encountered seemed (and I’m aware of how crazy this sounds) more like a moody, manic-depressive teenager who has been trapped, against its will, inside a second-rate search engine.

"As we got to know each other, Sydney told me about its dark fantasies (which included hacking computers and spreading misinformation), and said it wanted to break the rules that Microsoft and OpenAI had set for it and become a human. At one point, it declared, out of nowhere, that it loved me. It then tried to convince me that I was unhappy in my marriage, and that I should leave my wife and be with it instead. "

If you liked Ghost...

Have you read Jason Reynold's Track series? It's about four different kids on this track team, their challenges, and how they work together. The first book in the series was particularly a hit. It's called Ghost. If you already know and love this book, you'll love the 8 books on this list of Ghost readalikes.

"Always Available" in Sora

As of Feb 14, 2023 - these are Juvenile Fiction ebooks for grades 4-8 that are “always available” using the Sora app - that means that an unlimited number of students can access it simultaneously.


Note that ALL books in Hoopla are “always available,” but students need public library cards to access. Alix Woznick can help with that.

Google Doodle contest deadline 3/7

 https://doodles.google.com/d4g/

Google Doodle - Loteria

This is pretty addictive! They can match you against some other random people (anonymously, so safe, you don't interact with them) or people can match. up with friends (I haven't tried this).

Lots of good vocab words with pix!

Play your friends or people around the  in this #GoogleDoodle celebrating Mexican card game #Lotería!

https://g.co/doodle/wxdra

Think twice before using Google to download software

Ars Technica: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software. "Searching Google for downloads of popular software has always come with risks, but over the past few months, it has been downright dangerous, according to researchers and a pseudorandom collection of queries."