Thinkfinity Calendar - November 2009

In a companion lesson, The Red Badge of Courage: A New Kind of Courage (9-12), students examine the values of courage and patriotism expressed in the novel. Students read a chapter closely and then compare it with a more traditional tale of combat and a systematic look at an early reviewer's vehement criticism of the novel.

In Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” (9-12), students examine the relationship of man and nature as portrayed in Stephen Crane's short story, "The Open Boat." As they study the story, students critically examine the relationship of man and nature in the story, learn about the third-person omniscient point of view, conduct in-depth character analysis and explore the depth of emotion evoked by Crane.

In Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism (9-12), students learn the key characteristics that comprise American literary naturalism as they explore the work of Stephen Crane and Jack London.

ReadWriteThink
Courage is ripe with description and imagery. Younger students can begin to learn to use descriptive writing and complete sentences in Sentence Quest: Using Parts of Speech to Write Descriptive Sentences (K-2). In the lesson, students learn the criteria for a sentence by manipulating word cards; then they collaborate to write and illustrate complete, descriptive sentences. Finally, students work in groups using descriptive words and phrases to try to create the longest sentence they can.

ARTSEDGE
Latin American Culture: Dia de los Muertos (3-12) is a lesson on the ARTSEDGE mini-site Americartes: Celebrating the Arts of Latin America (K-12). The lesson, like the site, helps students learn about culture and tradition in Latin America as students create a display and celebration of deceased relatives.

In Tolerance: Comparing Cultural Holidays (K-4), students compare the holiday of Halloween, as celebrated in the United States, to the Mexican holiday of El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, November 1-2). Students compare both holidays by looking at traditions, music and visual art. Each student then replicates a tradition associated with El Día de los Muertos by creating an altar in memory of an ancestor who has died.

Smithsonian's History Explorer
Day of the Dead (K-12) is an engaging online exhibition from the Smithsonian Latino Center. It provides a wealth of information that will help students learn the origins of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), how it was been celebrated traditionally and how it is being celebrated now. The exhibition includes links to online resources as well as printable classroom-ready resources.

EDSITEment
Not Just Halloween: Festivals of the Dead from Around the World (K-12) is a resource relating to Halloween, and presents information about festivals of the dead from around the world.

Following his six-year stint on SNL, Miller co-produced and starred in his own HBO show called Dennis Miller Live, for which he won two Emmys. In addition to appearances in a number of major motion pictures, Miller spent two years adding his voice to the play-by-play commentary for ABC’s Monday Night Football. Miller is known for being extremely literate, and some of his obscure references seemed out of place in sports commentary; in 2002, after some criticism, Miller was replaced by John Madden.

Science NetLinks
High school students learn about gelotology, or the science of laughter, in a two-part series on laughter. In the first lesson, The Laughing Brain 1: How We Laugh (9-12), students learn about how the brain reacts to an external stimulus that is funny and about the positive effects of laughter in terms of our social, mental and physical well-being.

The second lesson, The Laughing Brain 2: A Good Laugh (9-12), focuses on three concepts. First, it focuses on the various theories of laughter. Second, it focuses on the benefits of laughter to our mental health. And third, it explores psychoneuroimmunology (the scientific discipline which studies how our state of mind affects our health).

ARTSEDGE
In A Question of Style (9-12), students explore the nature of comedy by informally staging the opening scenes in Shakespeare's "As You Like It."

Illuminations
The unit Mathematics and Football (Pre-K–8) has five activities that focus on connections between mathematics and football by using the Super Bowl. Students are asked to look at the Super Bowl not just as "the big game," but as an opportunity to apply mathematics to some interesting problems. The activities involve number sense, geometry, measurement, statistics, estimations and problem solving.

On November 4th, 1804, Lewis and Clark hired a French trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau to serve as an interpreter. With him was someone who would go on to become one of the most important figures in the journey, the Shoshone Indian woman named Sacagawea. Sacagawea and her baby, nicknamed Pomp, are immortalized on a dollar coin minted by the U.S. Treasury. The journey of Lewis and Clark was considered an eminent success, providing the government with invaluable information about its new territorial acquisition.

Xpeditions
In Lewis and Clark: Same Place, Different Perspectives (3-5), students write about several encounters between the Lewis and Clark expedition and various Native American groups from the viewpoint of either an expedition member or one of the Native Americans.

Through Lewis and Clark: Native American Contributions (6-8), students learn about specific instances in which Native Americans helped the Lewis and Clark expedition overcome obstacles. The expedition faced many difficult challenges, due primarily to the group's lack of knowledge about the geography of the area through which they traveled. This lesson helps students understand that, in large measure, the expedition succeeded because Native Americans generously shared their knowledge and resources.

Lewis and Clark: Building a Lasting Legacy (3-5) helps students understand the significant contributions made by Native Americans and other team members during the Lewis and Clark expedition. A good follow-up to a study on Lewis and Clark, this lesson has students draw or make a diorama that focuses on the geographic perspective of the expedition.

In Lewis and Clark: A Legacy to Remember (6-8), students review the impact Lewis and Clark's successful journey had on exploration, trade and geographic study in North America. Students design a memorial to illustrate the legacy of that expedition from a geographic perspective.

EconEdLink
In Lewis and Clark Barter with the Native Americans (6-8), students learn about the concept of barter as they study the techniques Lewis and Clark used to secure supplies they needed by trading other items with the Native Americans along the way.

Students learn about the creation of a Sacagawea golden dollar in The Return of Sacagawea (6-8). In the lesson, students learn about advantages of coin money over paper money and compare the Sacagawea coin to the Susan B. Anthony dollar.

In the second lesson, Aging 2: How Scientists Study Aging (6-8), students learn about ways scientists study aging, and focus specifically the study of the relationship between aging and caloric reduction.

Monkey Brains (6-12) focuses on questions surrounding the regeneration of brain cells. While scientists previously thought that humans are born with all the brain cells they will have, recent discoveries made in a study done on monkey brains by psychologist Charles Gross at Princeton University lend credence to the theory that some human brain cells may be capable of regenerating.

ARTSEDGE
In Tchaikovsky in America (9-12), part of the curriculum unit From the New World (9-12), students learn about the Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his 1891 visit to the United States. Students discover what he thought about America through his diaries, and they learn about the diary form. This lesson is geared towards students learning English as a second language. Through various activities, students compare Tchaikovsky's experiences and impressions with their own experiences in a new world.

Telling a Story through Dance (K–4) introduces students to the concept of emotionally and physically telling a story using dance and pantomime. Students learn that in ballet, the dancer is trained to portray story and character with movements instead of words. Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" serves as the foundation for the activities in this lesson.

The "Look-Listen-Learn" multimedia exploration Excerpts from The Nutcracker (3-12) takes a peek at some of the most famous scenes from Tchaikovsky's beloved winter favorite, The Nutcracker. The scenes here include excerpts from dances featuring the Snow Queen, the Mouse King and the children's party as well as musical gems, including pieces such as Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."

Lyrical, harsh, abrupt, militant, mysterious – classical music encompasses and conveys a broad range of experiences. The spotlight Consider Classical Music (5-12) features a collection of images, audio clips and text that will introduce you to the world of classical music from the perspective of a listener and a performer, and show you how it can enhance teaching and learning in your classroom.

In Exploring The Nutcracker (K-8), learn about creative movement and classical dance, and how to integrate and use it in the classroom. Students can explore the history of ballet, and take a behind-the-scenes peek at two ballet companies. Discover the beauty of ballet and revisit a timeless classic with this spotlight!

ARTSEDGE offers lessons about other composers, as well, including Vivaldi, The Composer (5-8) and Studying J.S. Bach (5-8).

In 2000, Hillary Clinton became the first First Lady to run for elected office, and on Election Day, she was elected to join Charles Schumer as the second of the two Senators from the state of New York. The Senate, one house of the bicameral legislative branch of the U.S. government, has a large number of committees dealing with a wide variety of issues. Senator Clinton sits on the Senate Committee for Environment and Public Works, the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the Senate Armed Services Committee. She chairs the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.

EDSITEment
In Women in the White House (6-8), students explore the role and impact of recent First Ladies through research and family interviews, and then they work in groups to present a documentary portrait to the class.

Congressional Committees and the Legislative Process (9-12) helps students see the relationship between United States government and their states and local communities. The lesson introduces students to the pivotal role that Congressional committees play in the legislative process. Through independent study and small group work, students learn why their Congressional representatives' participation on specific Congressional committees might be important to the people of their state or community, and they examine how the committee system reflects some of the basic principles of American federalism.

Illuminations
In Allow Me 2 Reiterate (9-12), students are exposed to negative or fractional exponents. In the lesson, students use a graphic calculator, spreadsheet or online tool to assist them in determining the square root of two to a given number of places. From this, students are able to study the repeating-decimal phenomenon of rational numbers, to explore the system property of irrationality of numbers and to experiment with the usefulness of an iterative algorithm.

The unit Code Crackers (9-12) introduces students to cryptology, beginning with the Caesar and Vigenere ciphers.

Science NetLinks
Law Breaking Balloons (6-12) focuses on some of the misconceptions surrounding Newtonian laws of motion. Students observe the seemingly law-defying motion of helium balloons, and then perform experiments that demonstrate that the balloons are indeed subject to Newtonian constraints.

In Patterns of Communication (3-5), students investigate methods of communication using various codes, try to "break the codes" and build a Morse Code buzzer.

During the years between 1951 and 1990, a number of attempts were made at governmental reform, but major success was not realized until this date in 1990, when Nepal adopted a new constitution, creating a constitutional monarchy and establishing a bicameral legislature, modeled on the two-part legislative system of the United States.

Xpeditions
Offering lesson plans for all ages, Xpeditions provides students with many opportunities to learn about the culture and geography of Nepal. Responsible Tourism in Nepal (9-12) introduces students to the concept of ecotourism and asks them to find out about culturally responsible tourism practices in Nepal. Students pretend they have been asked to lead a tour company in Nepal and decide whether to accept or decline the offer. They then write essays explaining their decisions.

In Religion and Spirituality in Nepal (6-8), middle grade students contemplate the meaning of a statement regarding Nepalese religion and spirituality and look for evidence of religious customs and "spiritual richness" observed during one American's trek through Nepal. The students conclude by comparing and contrasting these factors in Nepal with those same aspects of their own country.

For upper elementary students, A Nepalese Village and Your Town: What's the Difference? (3-5) introduces some of the cultural customs of rural Nepal and asks students to consider the differences between Nepalese culture and their own. Students write letters as if they were Nepalese children describing their culture and lifestyle, and then they write additional letters that they might send to Nepalese pen pals, describing the similarities and differences between North American and rural Nepalese cultures.

Life in the Mountains (K-2) introduces younger students to the idea that people in different parts of the world have different customs and habits of daily life, even if they live in similar landscapes. Students view pictures of and discuss life in the mountains of Colorado and Nepal and write stories describing what it might be like to live in the mountains of Nepal.

Students may choose to study Nepal or another location in Putting Geography to Good Use (9-12). This lesson is designed to help students analyze the geographic components of several topics and understand how geography can be used for a variety of purposes. Students read the U.S. National Geography Standards to use as a reference point and then design magazines or Web sites to help people understand the geographic components of an environmental problem.

In Comparing Cultures (6-8), students use the Internet to find out about the cultures and customs of Nepal, Japan or the Mentawai tribe of Indonesia. They compare three customs from one of these cultures to customs in the United States.

Use this Map of Nepal from the Xpeditions Atlas in any lesson about Nepal.

Science NetLinks
In a two-part series on classification, students learn about the variety of living organisms, both the familiar and the exotic, and become more precise in identifying similarities and differences among them. In Classification 1: Classification Scheme (3-5), students learn that many kinds of living things can be sorted into groups in many ways by using various features and that classification schemes will vary with purpose. Students begin the lesson by sorting buttons and then move on to a more complicated sorting exercise using animal cards. Students are encouraged to develop their own classification schemes. Classification 2: A Touch of Class (3-5) extends the investigation of living organisms carried out in the first lesson by exposing students to the idea that a variety of plants and animals can be classified into one or more groups based on the various characteristics of a specific group.

For younger students, Look at Those Leaves! (K-2) begins with students observing leaves in a hands-on activity. As they observe attributes, they group the leaves and consider any patterns they see emerge. In the second part of this lesson, students become more familiar with the seasonal changing of leaves.

In It Counts (K-2), students are asked to describe, compare and classify plants. Because plants are so similar, students must rely on very specific information such as number and shape of leaves, height, size relative to other plants, etc. to tell them apart. In this lesson, students use numbers concretely and descriptively to count as they make specific observations about plants.

In another two-part series, middle school students learn about plant reproduction. Plants 1: Plant Parents (6-8) helps students learn about the parts of a flower and plant reproduction that occurs naturally. Plants 2: Plant Propagation (6-8) helps students learn about asexual or forced reproduction of plants. The lesson extends over a period of six to eight weeks as students research propagation, attempt to propagate a plant, keep a journal and write a summary when the project is finished.

Classify That! (6-8) allows students to get acquainted with diverse forms of life by using modern biological classification systems to group animals that are related. Students learn about basic scientific groupings like genus, species, mammals, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles.

Illuminations
For a set of beginning classification activities, Properties Everywhere (Pre-K–2) helps students experiment with ways of representing data. In the lessons, students collect, organize and display data using multiple representations.

ReadWriteThink
Another beginning classification activity is Book Sorting: Using Observation and Comprehension to Categorize Books (K-2). In the lesson, students observe details in illustrations and explain similarities of text and subject matter as they work with each other in groups and with a partner to sort books according to different criteria. Students then write about the factors they considered when doing the sorting.

After two years of preparation, cleaning and study of the bones, paleontologists have determined that Jobaria weighed an estimated 20 tons and grew to be more than 70 feet in length. The fossil beds from which the scientists extracted the bones of Jobaria were between 110 and 135 million years old, and also contained other fossils, including other adult and juvenile Jobaria skeletons, as well as fossils of Suchomimus, a 36-foot long fish-eating predator.

Xpeditions
In How Do Scientists Find Dinosaur Fossils? (3-5), students learn about the process by which paleontologists locate, excavate and study dinosaurs. They then write journal entries pretending they are on a dinosaur dig.

The Science of Digging Up Dinosaurs (6-8) has students trace the steps of a paleontologist from determining where to look for dinosaur fossils to studying the completed dinosaur skeleton for clues about the dinosaur's behavior, diet and anatomy.

Dinosaur Bodies (K-2) asks students to think about the ways in which living animals use their bodies and the ways in which dinosaurs might have used their bodies, based on fossil evidence and the best educated guesses of paleontologists.

In The Evolution of Dinosaurs Over Time (9-12), students to combine their knowledge of evolution, geologic time and dinosaurs into a discussion of how these three topics overlap with regard to dinosaur evolution in the Cretaceous period.

Science NetLinks
Hollywood Dinosaurs (6-8) helps students examine characteristics of the scientific process in the study of dinosaurs. This lesson allows students to differentiate between fact, theory and speculation as they develop theories about dinosaurs based on relevant evidence, and then to examine recent evidence that challenges the prevailing theory that all dinosaurs were cold-blooded.

EconEdLink
Students learn about banking in Banks, Bankers, Banking (3-5). In the lesson, students demonstrate understanding of the processes associated with banking by role-playing as customers, tellers and guards.

In Banking is INTEREST-ing! (3-5), students identify a bank as one place where people save money and discuss the concept of interest and how they can earn it by saving their money in a bank.

This Little Piggybank Went to Market (K-2) helps students understand that work is a source of income. They then identify banks as places in which money can be saved and recognize that banks serve the vital function of keeping money safe.

In the lesson Big Banks, Piggy Banks (K-5), students learn that there are many places where people can keep their money. They identify the advantages and disadvantages of saving at home or saving in a bank. They choose the appropriate place to save money so that it is easily available, earns interest and is safe.

Students explore how bank tellers could make or break the banking world in The Role of a Bank Teller (9-12).

You Can BANK on This! Part 3: Saving (3-5), the third lesson of a four-part series on finance, introduces students to the importance of saving money and the role banks play in that process.

Another lesson of the same title, Cultural Symbols and the Characteristics of Place (6-8), explores the ways in which monuments, fortresses and other public structures provide insights into the distribution of peoples and their values, activities and available resources.

Students can use the Xpeditions Atlas (K-12) to locate maps of Vietnam, Washington, D.C. (where the memorial is located) or their home country or state.

ReadWriteThink
Honoring Our Veterans Through Poetry Prewriting (6-8) uses the informational power of the Internet for a prewriting activity. Using various Internet sites, students gather information about the history and celebration practices associated with Veterans Day. Following the prewriting activity, students write content-rich poems that honor our veterans.

In Building Vietnam War Scavenger Hunts through Web-Based Inquiry (9-12), students read a book about Vietnam, as a whole class or in literature circles. Then, working in small groups, students adopt the perspective of members of a group involved in the war (e.g., soldier, nurse, doctor, photojournalist, TV reporter) and conduct Internet scavenger hunts to explore how that particular group was affected.

In Lights, Camera, Action...Music: Critiquing Films Using Sight and Sound (9-12), students view a scene from the Vietnam war film, "Good Morning, Vietnam," in which the visuals and the music contradict each other. They then use a scene analysis framework to explore why the director chose the setting, camera angles and music and what these choices do to create the scene's tone.

- Excerpt from Chapter 134 of Moby Dick

Although now a revered American classic, Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, was not well received when Harper & Brothers first published it in 1851. Full of symbolism and figurative language, Moby Dick tells the story of the crazed and vengeful Captain Ahab and his quest to catch the Great White Whale that had cost him one of his legs in an earlier battle. The epic novel was influenced by Melville's own adventures as a harpooner on a whaling boat in the South Seas. Melville joined a ship's crew as cabin boy when he was 19 and later set sail aboard a whaler. He was jailed in Tahiti for mutiny, but escaped and wandered the South Seas for several years. Melville settled in Massachusetts after his adventures, turning to writing and working as a customs inspector. Melville was already a successful author when he wrote Moby Dick, with two popular novels and a number of popular short stories to his credit. Moby Dick, however, sold poorly when it was first published. During Melville's lifetime, fewer than 4,000 copies of the novel were sold. Today, however, the novel is recognized as Melville's greatest work, and Melville himself is counted among the greatest of American authors.

Xpeditions
Beluga Whales in the Ice (K-2) helps young students learn about how beluga whales survive in icy arctic and sub-arctic waters and why they sometimes need to migrate. Students view and sketch photographs of ice at different stages of thickness, look at pictures of belugas and discuss how belugas' bodies are adapted to life in the ice. They conclude by writing and illustrating paragraphs about how belugas survive in the ice and where the whales go when the ice becomes too thick.

In Can Crittercam Help Protect Humpbacks? (6-8), students learn about humpback whales' bubblenet feeding behavior and how Crittercam is being used to investigate it underwater. They read and discuss a National Geographic News article about Crittercam. Safely worn by wildlife, Crittercams capture video, sound and other information, giving us rare views of the private lives of animals.

In Can You Hear a Whale? (6-8), students listen to the vocalizations of several whale species and the special sounds of distinct blue whale populations. They consider why different whale species make different sounds, and they learn about the ways scientists are able to record these sounds. They conclude by writing paragraphs as if they were scientists studying blue whale calls and describing their research process.

In Why Do Whales Make Sounds? (3-5), students learn about the vocalizations of several whale species and the special calls of different populations of blue whales. They are asked to learn snippets of whale calls and to simulate whales trying to locate each other in the ocean.

In Pilot Whales' Social Behavior (6-8), students learn about pilot whales' sociability and bonding, and consider how National Geographic's Crittercam (a camera worn by wildlife to provide information about animal behavior) might help scientists learn more about their social behaviors.

In Pilot Whales' Place in the Ocean (3-5), students consider why so many whale species can survive in one area of the ocean. They conclude by writing dialogues pretending that they are scientists taking curious vacationers on a tour to see pilot whales and answering questions about the whales' feeding behaviors and ecological niche.

Responsible Whale Watching (3-5) asks students to think critically about the positive and potentially negative aspects of whale-watching tours.

Illuminations
In Whale Weight (6-8), activity four of the unit Representing Data (Pre-K-8), students study a chart to determine the relationship between numbers, and then use that generalization to estimate the weight of a whale given its length.

ReadWriteThink
Reading and Writing About Whales Using Fiction and Nonfiction Texts (K-2) teaches students how to formulate research questions and write letters. The lesson uses the nonfiction picture book "Big Blue Whale," by Nicola Davies, to present factual information about blue whales and the fiction picture book "Dear Mr. Blueberry," by Simon James, to demonstrate how a letter can be used to ask questions and foster inquiry about blue whales.

Science NetLinks
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, authors like Herman Melville, Jules Verne and Ernest Hemingway pitted grizzled adventurers against the mightiest creatures of the ocean. Today, the struggle of man-versus-nature is quite a different contest. In the Science Update Disappearing Fish (6-9), science reporter Bob Hirshon explains that the world's biggest fish are now in serious jeopardy.

In The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations: Five Camps: From Voices of Consent to Voices of Dissent (9-12), part of the same unit, students describe President Wilson's role in creating the League. They discuss whether Wilson's predictions were proven correct by events occurring after 1923. They also discuss whether the League of Nations could have prevented World War II had the U.S. joined.

In The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations: League of Nations Basics (9-12), also in the unit, students describe President Wilson's role in creating the League. They learn the basic issues covered in Wilson's Fourteen Points, and they compare those with the tenets in the Covenant of the League of Nations.

EconEdLink
On October 15, 1998, Alan Greenspan and the Board of Governors, in a surprise move, ordered short-term interest rates cut by 0.25%. What prompted the Fed to take this action? What impact will the rate change have on the economy? In Fed Orders Interest Rate Cut (9-12), students analyze several articles to examine the linkages between actions of the Federal Reserve Bank and economic performance.

In A Case Study: The Federal Reserve System and Monetary Policy (9-12), students explore several economic concepts to better understand monetary policy. The FOMC meets about every six weeks. The Committee consists of the seven Governors of the Federal Reserve Board and five of the twelve Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks. Governors are appointed by the U.S. President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks are selected by the Boards of each Bank. The primary function of the FOMC is to direct monetary policy for the U.S. economy.

In Multipliers and the Mystery of the Magic Money (9-12), students study the reserve requirement set by the Federal Reserve and calculate potential money creation using a "money multiplier." By participating in this activity, students come to understand how the Federal Reserve's most powerful tool can encourage economic stability.

In Fiscal and Monetary Policy Process (9-12), students follow each step of fiscal and monetary policy processes, to see the logic of how the Federal Reserve uses tools to correct economic instability.

WHERE DID ALL THE MONEY GO? The Great Depression Mystery (9-12), students investigate the Great Depression, including how the policies of the Federal Reserve System during the 20s and 30s affected the Great Depression.

Before the United States Constitution was adopted, establishing things like the legislature we have today, the fledgling nation operated under the somewhat problematic Articles of Confederation. In Lost Hero: The "To Do List" of the Continental Congress (6-8), students learn how the role of "President" was defined in the Articles of Confederation.

Congressional Committees and the Legislative Process (9-12) introduces students to the pivotal role that Congressional committees play in the legislative process, focusing on how their own Congressional representatives influence legislation through their committee appointments.

Students can learn how the legislative branch, or Congress, interacts with the other two branches of government in Balancing Three Branches at Once: Our System of Checks and Balances (3-5).

Illuminations
In Grouchy Lessons of Time (Pre-K-2), part of the unit Magnificent Measurement (Pre-K-2),students learn the concept of time. The activities focus students' attention on the attributes of time and enable students at varying levels to develop knowledge and skills in telling time. Assessment tools in Microsoft Word and PDF (Adobe Acrobat) formats are also included.

ReadWriteThink
Students are introduced to time zones using the time zone map in their phone book in one of several activities in Teaching Language Skills Using the Phone Book (3-5).

Science NetLinks
Most people agree that time flies when you're having fun, but time also flies when you're taking an impossible math test. The Science Update Time Flies (6-12) examines a new study that may explain why.

EDSITEment
In I Hear the Locomotives: The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad (3-5), students analyze archival material in order to make connections between the arrival of the railroads and many of the changes that occurred subsequently in the United States and its territories.

Inventing and Presenting Unit 2: Effective Speeches and Building the Invention (6-8) is part of a three-part unit from ReadWriteThink titled "Inventing and Presenting." In this interdisciplinary unit, students use what they have learned about experimentation and the scientific method, critical thinking, clear writing and effective speaking. Students read about inventors, propose inventions to solve problems they have identified and build and test their inventions. They record and graph data and create visuals to share that data. In addition, students study famous speeches to identify the elements of effective speaking, and they propose in writing an appropriate scenario for sharing the results of their experimentation. This second lesson has students identify the characteristics of effective speeches by reading and reviewing some historical speeches. They start building a three-dimensional model of an invention to solve a problem of their choice, and then verify the adequacy (or inadequacy) of the invention through experimentation. Throughout the lesson, students chart their own progress.

In Engaging Students in a Collaborative Exploration of the Gettysburg Address (3-5), students investigate the historical significance of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, as well as the time period and people involved.

EDSITEment
Life Before the Civil War (6-8) is part of a curriculum unit designed to help students develop a foundation on which to understand the basic disagreements between North and South. Through the investigation of primary source documents—photographs, census information and other archival documents—students gain an appreciation of everyday life in the North and South, changes occurring in the lives of ordinary Americans and some of the major social and economic issues of the years before the Civil War. In this lesson, students study differences between North and South by comparing the Northern community of Franklin, Pennsylvania, and the Southern community of Augusta, Virginia, using archival documents.

In People and Places in the North and South (6-8), another lesson from the same unit, students concentrate on differences as they look at the way people made a living before the Civil War in two communities, one Northern and one Southern.

Lincoln's inaugural address provides the focus of the EDSITEment unit We Must Not Be Enemies: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address (3-5).

ARTSEDGE
In Civil War Music (5-8), students identify songs popular during the Civil War as rallying songs, recruiting songs, popular entertainment songs, campfire songs, sentimental songs or patriotic songs. Students compare and contrast songs from the North and from the South, then choose a Civil War song to perform using voice or an instrument.

ARTSEDGE
In Five Artists of the Mexican Revolution (9-12), students research the major events and personalities in the Mexican Revolution, and explore how these people and events influenced the art being created at that time in Mexico.

In Corridos About the Mexican Revolution (9-12), the first of two lessons in the unit The Music & Meaning of Mexican Corridos (9-12), students are introduced to causes of the Mexican Revolution and key revolutionary figures. They gain an understanding of a particular Mexican song form, the corrido, and its role as a vehicle for communicating the news and other important events.

In the second lesson from the unit, Form and Theme in the Traditional Mexican Corrido (9-12), students analyze the themes and literary devices used in corridos such as "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez" and "El Moro de Cumpas". Corridos about conflicts along the U.S.-Mexican border after 1910, largely caused by an influx of people fleeing the Revolution, are examined.

The Look-Listen-Learn feature Corridos (9-12) highlights lessons, how-to features and multimedia resources related to the traditional Mexican ballad form, the corrido. Audio clips of corridos about key figures in the Mexican Revolution are included.

ReadWriteThink
Students study the basic elements of Mexican history in Using Timeline Games and Mexican History to Improve Comprehension (3-5). They then use online resources to gather the information they need to make an illustrated timeline. The timelines use a different card for each event; students mix up their cards and challenge other students to put them back in order, teaching each other what they have learned. The amount of research required can be adapted for each student's ability.

In 1741, Vaucanson was appointed inspector of silk manufacturing in France, where the industry was facing difficulty against competition from England and Scotland. Vaucanson used his talent for automata and engineering to reorganize the industry and make great improvements to the machinery used to weave the silk. During this time he also created the first automatic loom, through the use of a controlled system of perforated cards, but the device was not entirely reliable. In addition to its flaws, it was received with great hostility by workers in the industry, who found it insulting to be presented with a machine that was meant to perform their craft without the benefit of human touch. It was not until the turn of the century several decades later that another inventor, Joseph Marie Jacquard, took the original concept and improved it, creating a fully automated loom that became widely adopted during the Industrial Revolution.

Science NetLinks
In Exploring Parts and Wholes (K-2), students explore systems (in the context of parts and wholes), and develop the understanding that when parts are put together they can do things that they couldn't do by themselves. Students analyze and discuss the parts of toys, classroom objects and objects in the outdoor world.

Move It! With Simple Machines (3-5) helps students understand simple machines and what their purposes might be. After reading a short page on each of several simple machines, students discuss how the simple machines function. They explore this briefly in a hands-on fashion and lead into the discussion of how these tools are the base for almost any machine or more complex tool that we use.

Tools (3-5) has students examine the natural functions of tools. Students examine, categorize and discuss the uses of everyday tools and simple machines. This base of knowledge leads into exercises and discussions about how complex machines are a conglomerate of simpler tools and motions, as well as how tools have changed and become more sophisticated throughout history. At the end of the lesson, to reemphasize the importance of tools in human society, students write a paper in which they imagine a world without a particular tool.

Building a Water Clock (6-8) helps students understand robotic systems through the study of a feedback-controlled water clock. Students observe the workings of a water clock, use the Internet to research ways of improving on the design and then work in teams to create versions of the clock that can keep time accurately for at least two hours.

In Robotic Dog (6-12), students learn about research being done on robot pets as substitutes for people unable to care for real animals. After hearing about studies being done in this area, students consider the questions scientists are trying to answer and how they themselves might conduct similar research.

In the Science Update Replicating Robots (6-12), students hear about an engineering lab at Cornell University, where Hod Lipson and a team of graduate students have created robots that can build exact copies of themselves from magnetic cubes.

EDSITEment
Was There an Industrial Revolution? Americans at Work Before the Civil War (9-12) helps students learn about changes which occurred in the United States during the period of industrialization before the Civil War. Students examine information to determine which facts indicate whether early industrialization was a revolutionary or evolutionary process. This is the second lesson in a two-lesson series.

Illuminations
In the interactive activity Robot Sketcher: Explore Different Robot Arm Constructions (9-12), students can build compound arms having multiple joints of two types: one that rotates and is typical of rotating motors and one that slides and is typical of hydraulic lifts.

Science NetLinks
In the Science Update JFK Analysis (6-12), atmospheric chemist Ken Rahn describes how he and a ballistics specialist have re-analyzed the data from two major forensic studies of the John F. Kennedy assassination.

The primary purpose of the activities in Temperature Changes Everything (6-8) is to introduce the students to the concept that temperature causes molecules and atoms to move faster and farther apart, which in turn causes the change from solid to liquid, and liquid to gas. Students need to come to this activity with the knowledge that some solids turn into liquids when heated. They also need to understand the observable differences between a solid and a liquid.

The water cycle is of great importance to life on earth, and students should develop an understanding of evaporation, condensation and the conservation of matter. In Models of the Water Cycle (6-8), students build and reflect on the usefulness of models that demonstrate the cycling of water in a closed system. In the process, they observe and learn to recognize evidence of condensation and evaporation.

Believe it or not, the attractive forces between gas molecules are strong enough to hold together entire planets made of gas. Scientists have long thought that huge, gaseous planets like Jupiter and Saturn took at least a million years to form. New research, however, shows that it might not have taken that long at all. Students learn why in Gas Giant Origins (6-12).

The Charleston (K-4) provides an introduction to the Charleston, a popular American ragtime dance in the 1920s. The Charleston emphasized coordination of both fine and gross motor skills within the melodic structure of American ragtime jazz.

EconEdLink
In Music, Maestro, Please: Show Business and the Factors of Production (3-5), students explore the differences between capital, natural and human resources, and the important role that each plays as a productive resource. This lesson incorporates an interactive student activity and links to a variety of web resources.

On this day in 1998, Chinese president Jiang Zemin arrived in Tokyo, beginning a historic visit to the nation that had been one of China's greatest adversaries through World War II. China and Japan have a long history of unsettled relations, including the invasion and occupation of China by the Japanese during World War II. In 1972, diplomatic relations were officially re-established between the two countries, but it wasn't until Jiang Zemin's visit that a Chinese head of state actually visited Japan. Zemin, who grew up in Japanese-occupied Yangzhou city, attended meetings with the Emperor and Empress, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and other officials. Although Japan verbally expressed "deep remorse" for the distress caused the Chinese people by Japanese aggression toward China, the Prime Minister refused to offer a written apology as he had done during Korean President Kim's recent visit. This lapse cast a shadow over the six-day visit.

EDSITEment
Students can learn more about World War II in the Pacific theater, particularly the U.S.'s role in the conflict, in Turning the Tide in the Pacific, 1941-1943 (9-12) and Victory in the Pacific, 1943-1945 (9-12).

ARTSEDGE
ARTSEDGE offers resources celebrating the arts of both China and Japan, including Chinese Calligraphy and Ink Painting (K-4), in which students learn basic calligraphy strokes and create a painting in the style of Chinese ink painting.

Japanese Woodblock Prints (9-12) explores the history and evolution of the Japanese woodblock print. Students study the Ukiyo-e from its early beginnings to its height in the late 1800s. Students also learn about the techniques and development of this process.

EconEdLink
Asian-Pacific policy and economics were among the topics discussed during the visit. In Malaysian Government Introduces Currency Controls (9-12), students gain a better understanding of the consequences of the economic steps taken by the Malaysian government in September of 1998.

That year’s harvest, the harvest of 1621, was plentiful. The leader of the settlers asked Squanto and Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoags, to bring their immediate families to a feast, one in which they could enjoy the bounty of their harvest and give thanks for their good fortune. Though the setters were surprised when they returned with 90 relatives, the feast proceeded, and it lasted for three days. In between meals, the settlers and the Wampanoags went hunting and engaged in contests of skill and strength. The feast is believed to have included lobster, roasted goose, turkey, rabbit, Indian corn-meal pudding, roasted duck, stewed pumpkin, hominy pudding, roasted venison and cheese.

President George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving for November 26, 1789 to celebrate and give thanks for the successful formation of the United States government. However, Thanksgiving failed to catch on as a yearly national holiday. It wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation that the holiday became a regular tradition.

ReadWriteThink
Behind every myth are many possible truths allowing us to discover who we were as peoples and who we are today. By exploring Myth and Truth: The "First Thanksgiving" (6-8), students learn to think critically about commonly believed myths regarding the Wampanoag Indians in colonial America.

In Packing the Pilgrim’s Trunk: Personalizing History in the Elementary Classroom (K-2), students investigate the Pilgrims—who they were and why they came to America. Through a series of activities designed to help students relate their lives to the lives of Pilgrim children, students explore the concept of moving. They read about the Mayflower Pilgrims' travels and compare life today with life during the time of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag.

EconEdLink
How does your family celebrate Thanksgiving? Are you joined by friends and/or family for a special feast? What do you eat? Most American families celebrate Thanksgiving by cooking turkey. According to www.butterball.com, 90 percent of U.S. households eat turkey on Thanksgiving and 50 percent eat turkey on Christmas day. In the lesson plan Let's Talk Turkey: The Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner (9-12), students explore these and other concepts.

-excerpt from the last will and testament of Alfred Nobel

The son of an engineer and inventor, Alfred Nobel was born in Sweden in 1833. Early on, Nobel was a lover of poetry and literature, but at the wish of his father he was also trained as a chemist. He spent years experimenting with the explosive properties of nitroglycerine, which he ultimately produced and sold as dynamite. He eventually held 355 patents. Nobel's combination of business acumen and chemistry knowledge helped to make him a wealthy man. He never lost his early love of poetry and literature and over his life, he developed a strong interest in social issues. These factors influenced him in establishing prizes in the fields of chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and peace.

When Nobel signed his will on this day in 1885, he outlined a plan for creating the Nobel Foundation and establishing the annual prizes that bear his name. He named two young engineers as his executors and specified several organizations to select the prize-winners. Nobel kept the contents of his will secret, and they came as a surprise when the will was read after his death on December 10, 1896. The will was contested by family members and several governments, but the foundation Nobel envisioned eventually became a reality and still funds the annual prizes he created.

ReadWriteThink
In Style: Translating Stylistic Choices from Hawthorne to Hemingway and Back Again (9-12), students read the work of Nobel Prize-winner Ernest Hemingway as they translate passages that demonstrate specific stylistic devices, then translate fables into the style of one of the authors they have been reading.

Students explore the characteristics of minimalist fiction and the work of contemporary minimalist writers by reading Ernest Hemingway's "Cat in the Rain" and Raymond Carver's "Little Things" in When Less IS More—Understanding Minimalist Fiction (9-12).

In Designing Museum Exhibits for The Grapes of Wrath: A Multigenre Project (9-12), students read Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and explore issues from the Depression era. Students then focus on one issue as it applies to Steinbeck's novel and create artifacts for a museum exhibit.

In Using Student-Centered Comprehension Strategies with Elie Wiesel’s Night (9-12), students use reciprocal teaching strategies as they read and discuss Holocaust survivor and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Elie Wiesel's memoir Night.

EDSITEment
Students examine literary modernism in the unit Introduction to Modernist Poetry (9-12). Specifically, students read and analyze modernist poetry, including Nobel Prize-winner T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Students identify key events in Nobel Prize-winner Rudyard Kipling's life and describe their effect on his story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" (part of The Jungle Book) in the lesson Rudyard Kipling’s “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”: Mixing Fact and Fiction (3-5).

In the related lesson Rudyard Kipling’s “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”: Mixing Words and Pictures (3-5), students read an illustrated version of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and examine how Kipling and visual artists mix observation with imagination to create remarkable works.

The curriculum unit Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying: Form of a Funeral (9-12), features lessons exploring the narrative voices and social concerns in Nobel Prize-winner William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying.

In the curriculum unit William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury: Narrating the Compson Family Decline and the Changing South (9-12), students examine narrative structure and time, narrative voice/point of view and symbolism throughout William Faulkner's novel, The Sound and the Fury.

ARTSEDGE
What Blame to Us if the Heart Live On (9-12), one of a multi-part unit from ARTSEDGE, focuses on various ways the content of selections of William Faulkner's prose and Tennessee Williams' one-act plays illuminate aspects of the psychological climate of the South following the Civil War.

Science NetLinks
In the Science Update Higgs Field (6-12), Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman predicts the next revolutionary discovery in physics: the Higgs Particle.

The 2006 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to John C. Mather and George F. Smoot for their work on the Big Bang theory. Learn more about the theory in the Science Update interview with another Nobel-winner, Leon Lederman: Before Big Bang (6-12).

The Science Update South Pole Scope (6-12) examines one way scientists try to measure remnants of light from the Big Bang.

Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello were awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work with RNA. The interactive tool Protein Synthesis: At the Ribosome (9-12) presents a brief animation that demonstrates the process by which messenger RNA (mRNA) is translated into protein.

Roger D. Kornberg was awarded the 2006 Nobel Price in Chemistry for his work with machinery for reading DNA. Extracting DNA (9-12) introduces students to DNA, genes, chromosomes and the chemicals that make up DNA.

Xpeditions
In DNA and Endangered Species (6-8), students learn some basics about DNA and genetics and then learn how DNA can be used to study and help endangered animals.

EconEdLink
Although Alfred Nobel did not establish the Nobel Prize in Economics in his original will, it was added to the list of prizes in 1968, when Sweden's central bank established this Prize in memory of Nobel. The 1976 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Milton Friedman, was a proponent of school vouchers. The Controversial School Voucher Issue (9-12) examines this controversial issue, with particular attention to his arguments.

Science NetLinks
The purpose of the lesson El Niño (6-8) is to help students understand that El Niño is caused by changes in the atmospheric and ocean content. In earlier grades, students learn about the atmosphere, weather and oceans in a descriptive sense. This lesson demonstrates how the atmosphere and oceans affect one another, including how a small change in sea surface height can have a large impact on weather (part of the cause of El Niño). El Niño is a mass of warm water that moves eastward as trade winds relax. The warm water brings torrential rains to parts of the world that are not prepared for such weather.

ARTSEDGE
In Explorers' Experience (5-8), students discuss the concept of exploration. They research a world explorer and prepare maps of the routes traveled. The students then create a papier-mâché map to represent the explorer's journey.

Xpeditions
Everyday Explorers: Investigate! (6-8) inspires the spirit of exploration in students by encouraging them to become "Everyday Explorers" as they dig in, get dirty and learn more about the physical and biological world around them.

The related activity, Be an Explorer Every Day! (K-12), guides students as they make exploration tool-kits with gear to help them explore their local environments.

Lewis began writing at Oxford and published his first book, The Pilgrim’s Regress, in 1933. This was the first of many books on Christian and spiritual topics—Lewis's life involved a journey away from and then back to Christian faith. He is perhaps best known for his seven-book series called The Chronicles of Narnia, rich in Christian allegory, which has become popular with children and adults alike.

Following the death of his wife in 1960, Lewis’ health deteriorated, and he died on November 22, 1963. Earlier in his life, he had asked that the occasion of his death be marked only quietly. Ironically, on the same day that he died, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

ReadWriteThink
In Book Report Alternative: The Elements of Fiction (3-5), students review the elements of fiction and the key components of a book report. They identify and share these concepts by writing and illustrating their own mini-book based on a fiction book they have chosen to read. The stapleless book offers an alternative to the traditional book report and an opportunity for students to share their work in pairs or small groups and to learn from each other.

In Lewis' popular Narnia series, the setting of the magical land of Narnia ties the adventures from each of the novels together. In Using Picture Books to Teach Setting Development in Writing Workshop (3-5), students examine the craft of developing the setting of a story through focused experiences with picture books. They apply the characteristics of a well-developed setting to selected examples of their own writing.

Illuminations
The unit A Tale of Two Stories (3-5) is inspired by children's natural curiosity about fantasy and fairy tales. Specifically, the investigations focus on developing the process of classification, especially an awareness of similarities and differences. The activities use "The Three Little Pigs" and "Cinderella" to motivate students to think and reason mathematically. This lesson has two different activities: one for grades 3-4 and one for grades 5-6. The investigation for grades 3-4 uses the story of "The Three Little Pigs" to motivate students to think and reason mathematically in a number of ways. In grades 5-6, students use classification skills to compare and contrast versions of the Cinderella story. Although presented in developmentally appropriate grade-level clusters, these investigations are readily adaptable and extendable to other grade levels.

The lesson Twain: Steamboat's a-Comin' (9-12), part of an ARTSEDGE curriculum unit titled "Mark Twain, the Lincoln of Our Literature," examines the mystique of rivers as inspiration for creative expression. It also provides students with a glimpse of the powerful influence the Mississippi River and its environs had on Mark Twain's writings. It sets some groundwork for students to consider, as their experience with Twain sources broadens, that even in the themes of his narratives and essays that appear to be far removed from his beloved "great Mississippi, the majestic, the magnificent Mississippi," there often seems to be a consistent undercurrent in which Twain measures life against the memories of his youthful days spent on the river and its shores.

The lesson Twain: An American Humorist (9-12) examines the diversity and intricacy of Mark Twain's humor, focusing particularly on the qualities that support the assertion made by William Dean Howells, Ernest Hemingway and others that Twain was the first "true" American writer.

Twain: Tom Sawyer—Mythic Adventurer (9-12) focuses on the content and style of development in Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and explores the nature of Tom Sawyer as a youthful "American Adam." This lesson is the fourth in a four-part curriculum unit on Mark Twain titled "Mark Twain, The Lincoln of Our Literature."

EDSITEment
In the three-part lesson Mark Twain and American Humor (9-12), students examine structure and characterization in the short story and consider the significance of humor through a study of Mark Twain's "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

The lesson Critical Ways of Seeing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in Context (9-12) asks students to combine Internet historical research with critical reading. They then produce several writing assignments exploring what readers see in Huckleberry Finn and why they see it that way.

Students read and explore the various methods for writing essays and their basis in rhetorical tradition by analyzing essays by Frederick Douglass and Mark Twain in Introducing the Essay: Twain, Douglass, and American Non-Fiction (9-12).

ReadWriteThink
In Book Report Alternative: Summary, Symbol, and Analysis in Bookmarks (6-8), students practice summarizing, recognizing symbols and writing reviews—all while writing for an authentic audience. As they create their book report bookmarks for their peers to review, the sense of audience makes a huge difference in the quality of the work that students do. When students are writing pieces that will be read by classmates and other students, their attitudes toward writing change. Suddenly the grammar rules that were "dumb" matter. Accuracy, mood and tone are all important. The net result is that the students take complete ownership of their work.

Literary Scrapbooks Online: An Electronic Reader-Response Project (9-12) leads students to reflect on and respond to literature by creating an online scrapbook. The lesson focuses on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, but any piece of literature could be used for the basis of an online scrapbook.

Xpeditions
In Mark Twain's Cave (3-5), students learn about the cave described in Mark Twain's famous novel, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." They read a passage from the book and learn about how the cave has been used throughout history.

Illuminations
The Celebrated Jumping Frog (6-8), one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, uses the story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calveras County" by Mark Twain to introduce games and activities that develop concepts of measurement and statistics. After reading the story, students simulate a jumping-frog contest and determine the distances "jumped."