Division of School Improvement - Instructional Technology

Missouri Technology Acquisition Grant (TAG) Program
<No news to report>

Missouri Safe Schools & Pilot Safe Schools Grants Program

The General Assembly’s appropriation for the FY06 Safe Schools grant program is
$3.12 million (down $1 million from the FY05 appropriation) which will be used to continue support of the CHARACTERplus contract and 85 grant projects. The
contract will be supported at 50 percent of the amount awarded in FY05, with
fourth-year grant projects funded at 80 percent of their FY05 approved amounts,
and fifth-year projects funded at 56 percent of their FY05 amounts. Instructional Technology supervisors have begun contacting project contacts to finalize the
project approval process and hope to have all the grants approved by early
to mid June.

Federal Title II.D “Ed Tech” or “EETT” Program

Formula Grants – Financial Management has posted preliminary Title II.D formula grant allocations at http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/fedprog/financialmanagement/05-06TitleIIDPreliminary.pdf. All but four districts have allocations listed, ranging from a low of $28 to a high of $418,196. As indicated in the table below, about one-fourth of all eligible districts (23 percent) have allocations of $1,000 or less, 73 percent have allocations under $5,000, and only three districts have allocations over $45,000.

Districts

Grant Allocation Range

34

$499 or less

86

$500 - $999

259

$1,000 - $4,999

84

$5,000 - $9,999

39

$10,000 - $19,999

14

$20,000 - $49,999

-

$50,000 - $99,999

3

$100,000 or more

Competitive Grants – The May Newsline IT Update listed the 44 year-two and 8 year-one competitive grants tentatively approved for 2005-06. This information is also posted on the IT website at http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/instrtech/federalfunded/TitleIID/FY06grantawards.html.

MOREnet Technology Network Program (TNP)

The appropriation for MOREnet programs serving K-12 and higher education and public libraries was cut by $4.35 million. The MOREnet Council will meet June 15 to make preliminary decisions for dealing with the budget cut. Council members will look at options that include identifying services and costs that can be reduced, eliminated, or provided on a cost recovery basis and determining appropriate increases in user fees.

Technology Data Collection

Census of Technology (COT)

Districts complete the annual Census of Technology (COT) via the Department’s Core Data Collection System - April cycle. Screen 30 collects data at the district level, and Screen 31 collects building-level data. To date, 23 districts have yet to complete their COT data entry.

Technology Planning

State Plan <<Update>>

The Missouri Education Technology Strategic Plan provides Missouri policy makers and school districts with a blueprint to guide and facilitate state and local technology planning, funding, implementation, and evaluation. Instructional Technology and SuccessLink have partnered to oversee development of a new state technology plan for 2006-2011. Planning efforts are being organized around five technology focus areas (TFAs): 1) student learning, 2) teacher preparation and delivery of instruction, 3) administration/ data management/ communications, 4) distribution of resources, and 5) technical support and facilitated by the use of an interactive website. The goal is to have the new plan completed for presentation to the State Board in May or June of 2006.

While there is a small core committee for each TFA, we want to provide ample opportunity for and facilitate the participation of all key stakeholders. The Missouri Education Technology Strategic Plan website (http://www.successlink.us/motechplan/) allows Missouri educators, and all other interested parties, to review the work of the planning teams and provide input and feedback into the development of the next five-year plan. It is a place where colleagues can communicate and collaborate with one another as they look into the future and develop effective, long-range strategies for enhancing education through technology.

Site registration is free and we encourage you to register so you can participate fully in the development of the new plan. Non-registered users can go to the website and provide immediate feedback to any article (by typing in the Comment Box below the “article”). Articles are categorized by the five different TFAs and can be accessed by using the menu on the left side of the screen. As a registered member you can submit articles for review by the core committee of each TFA, participate in discussion board forums, and receive newsletters which will occasionally be sent out by various teams or sub-committees. You can create a free account by clicking the "create account" link in the lower-left of the screen. Once you have logged into the system you can edit your account details by clicking on "Your Details" in the User Menu (lower left-hand corner, below the Main Menu).

E-RATE PROGRAM

Year 2003 Funding News

The SLD issued Wave 40 on June 1, 2005, which committed over $59 million in 185 letters to school and library applicants. The funding associated with this wave – which includes a letter to MOREnet – funds Priority One (telecommunications services and Internet access) at all discount bands and for Priority Two (internal connections) at the 70%-90% discount level. With the issuance of this wave of E-rate funding commitment decision letters, the SLD has committed over $2.6 billion in 34,719 letters for Funding Year 2003. USAC has now issued letters on the vast majority of applications associated with Funding Year 2003 and is advising applicants that Wave 40 will be the last wave of funding but will continue to process applications and issue decisions as soon as possible. For more information about Funding Year 2003, see: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/funding/y2003/national.asp.

Year 2004 Funding News

The SLD issued Wave 19 on Tuesday, May 24, 2005, which committed over $126.3 million in 135 letters. The funding associated with this wave includes funding for Priority One and for Priority Two at the 81% and above discount level. Those eligible for discounts below 80% are being advised that their requests for internal connections must be denied due to insufficient funds. With issuance of this wave, the SLD has committed over $2.1 billion in over 31,700 letters for Funding Year 2004. The SLD plans to issue waves every other week until the process is complete. See: http://www.sl.universalservice.org. For Funding Year 2004, see: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/funding/y2004/waves/default.asp.

Year 2005 Funding News

Year 2005 – The Form 471 application filing window expired February 18, 2005. To track the progress of Forms 471, visit http://www.sl.universalservice.org/FY3_form471/471StatusCheck.asp.

E-Rate program developments

On May 23rd, Representatives Barbara Cubin (R-WY) and Charles Gonzalez (D-TX) introduced H.R. 2533, the E-rate Anti-Deficiency Act legislation. Like its companion bill, S. 241, the House bill would permanently exempt the E-rate program from the Anti-Deficiency Act. This would allow E-rate to continue to operate without having to have reimbursement funds in the bank before making funding commitments. Reps. Cubin and Gonzales serve on the House Commerce Committee and on the House Telecom and the Internet Subcommittee. The original cosponsors were Reps. Brown (D-OH), Radanovich (R-CA), Wynn (D-MD) and King (R-IA).

NATIONAL/WASHINGTON NEWS

National Imagine A Technology Blackout Day <update>
As the one-month long event wrapped up in late May, SETDA announced that more than 1,000 teachers and parents participated in the National Imagine a Technology Blackout Day, with more than 5,000 students submitting accounts of how technology impacts the way they live, work, and play. SETDA plans to announce the winners of more than $5,000 in prizes and highlight some of the best submissions in late May or early June. See: http://www.technologyblackoutday.com.

ED TECH RESEARCH, PUBLICATION, RESOURCES, SPECIAL EVENTS

Consortium for School Networking releases ‘2005 CoSN Compendium’
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) has released its 2005 CoSN Compendium, a collection of articles designed to address the question, “What do technology leaders need to know and do to support schools and districts in today’s changing world?” From the opening article on best practices for K-12 CTOs through the final monograph on measuring the value of technology, this third annual edition of the CoSN Compendium offers advice, case studies, interviews with experts, and an in-depth review of the latest legislation, policy, and research findings to help district-level technology leaders meet the needs of today’s students. For more information about the 2005 CoSN Compendium, visit http://www.cosn.org/resources/compendium/2005.cfm. The individual monographs are available free to CoSN members as PDF files via myCoSN (http://my.cosn.org/mycosn/welcome.cfm) and available for purchase via the CoSN store at https://my.cosn.org/mycosn/store.

Report about rural education in the 50 states – and reliance on distance education
More than one-fourth (12.5 million) of public school students attend school in communities of fewer than 25,000 and nearly one-fifth (8.8 million) attend school in smaller communities of fewer than 2,500, according to Why Rural Matters 2005, the third in a series of reports analyzing the importance of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the urgency with which policymakers in each state should address the problems of rural education. To overcome barriers and help rural schools achieve despite their geographic limitations, researchers make several suggestions within the report – one of which is the use of distance education as an instructional equalizer. This new report from the nonprofit Rural Schools and Community (RSCT), suggests distance education is at its best when clusters of small districts pool their resources in efforts to bolster staff, procure funding, and create more choices for ambitious learners. For more information about the report (available at no charge as a PDF file or order $3 hardcopy), see: http://www.ruraledu.org/.

Higher Ed distance ed regulation change proposed
A new report from the U.S. Department of Education recommends that Congress ease rules that limits a college’s ability to offer distance educational programs. In 1992, Congress passed a “50 percent rule” that prevents colleges from offering federal financial assistance if they enroll more than half of their students or more than half of their courses via distance education. This report is the third report to Congress on the results of the Distance Education Demonstration Program, which was authorized by Congress in the 1988 amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). The program tests the quality and viability of distance education; provides increased student access to higher education through distance education; and, identifies effective strategies for delivering distance education. For a copy of the report, see: http://www,ed.gov/programs/disted.

Customers Say MOREnet Delivers

--Submitted by Eric Nicklas, Program Manager, K-12 Technology Network Program, MOREnet
www.more.net.

The Missouri Research and Education Network (MOREnet) received an excellent overall satisfaction rating of 9.1 out of 10 in a just-released independent survey of Missouri educators and librarians. MOREnet’s primary service—providing reliable Internet connectivity for Missouri public schools, higher education institutions and libraries—earned near-perfect ratings (9.5 out of 10).

The online survey was designed and fielded by an independent expert and administered through Vangel Marketing Communications.

“In our experience measuring customer satisfaction, there are often one or two areas where an organization excels. MOREnet is unique because customers rated it extremely high across all service areas,” said Mike Vangel, president of Vangel Marketing Communications.

MOREnet Executive Director Bill Mitchell said, “We want to thank our customers for taking the time to participate in this survey and rewarding us with an excellent benchmark from which to further improve our services. I am very proud of the staff at MOREnet and their steadfast commitment to improve customer satisfaction.”

MOREnet Summer Camps

MOREnet is pleased to announce new and improved summer camps this year.

Our camps are designed to offer in-depth instruction in a compressed time frame, and this summer we have several camps related to a variety of skill sets—distance delivery methods, security, web authoring, networking, hardware and online resources—offered at a variety of locations across Missouri.

Distance Learning Camp, June 13-15, Columbia

Distance Learning Camp, June 15-17, Columbia

Web Authoring Camp, June 21-23, Poplar Bluff TCRC

Web Authoring Camp, June 21-23, Nevada TCRC

Networking Camp, June 27-July 1, Columbia

Wireless Camp, June 29-30, Kirksville Regional TCRC

Hardware Camp, June 29-30, Kirksville Regional TCRC

Resource Toolbox Camp, July 6-8, Kirksville Regional TCRC

Security Camp, July 11-15, Columbia

Hardware Camp, July 13-14, Mineral Area TCRC, Park Hills

Resource Toolbox Camp, July 19-21, Nevada TCRC

Resource Toolbox Camp, July 19-21, Mineral Area TCRC, Park Hills

Wireless Camp, July 20-21, Poplar Bluff TCRC

e-Conferencing Camp, July 25-28, Columbia

Web Authoring Advanced Camp, July 26-28, Columbia

Windows 2003 Camp, August 1-5, Columbia

e-Conferencing Camp, August 16-19, Daviess County Library in Gallatin

All MOREnet customers are eligible to attend. Register through your IR (Institutional Representative), MOREnet contacts, or PDC (Professional Development Contact). Our registration form is located online for your convenience at http://www.more.net/training/trainingform.html. Seats are limited, so enroll as soon as possible.

For a complete list of classes provided by MOREnet, see our schedule at http://solutions.more.net/apps/training/schedule/. If you have any questions related to training, contact Pamela Brady, Technical Training Supervisor, at (573) 884-7654 or e-mail pam@more.net.

EASE History

http://www.easehistory.org/

Researching an issue or topic used to mean pouring over dusty books and records or reading pages describing important events. However, much of history in the last half of the 20th century has been recorded by videographers and still photographers. A group at Michigan State University created a new website called EASE History which provides access to a video collection that enables the student to view these important visual documents. Over 600 videos and photographs from 1900 to the present are currently available in EASE History.

“EASE History's goal is to support experience acceleration to help learners think more like historians…EASE History has three entry points: Historical Events, Campaign Ads, and Core Values. Learn about US History through the prism of US presidential campaign ads, better understand the complexities of campaign issues and their historical context by looking at historical events, and explore the meanings of core values by examining how these values have been applied in both historical events and campaign ads. Three learning modes, single and multiple theme searches, and resources support the comparing and contrasting of historical cases.”

“EASE History is an "open" learning environment in that it can handle many different kinds of questions. The environment can be used to learn about history, from a beginner or a more advanced perspective, using video clips of historical events. A learning guide has been designed to support its use in classrooms grades 6-12.”

For more information, contact Brian Collins, with Learning, Technology, and Culture at Michigan State University, at colliu239@msu.edu.

METPA NEWS

None for June.

MISSOURI SCHOOLS AND PROJECTS IN THE NEWS

ISTE-eMINTS Leadership Institute wrapped up on May 5 with 17 teams making presentations about their year-long planning and expansion experience with the eMINTS instructional model. Hewlett-Packard awarded four all-expense paid trips to representatives from four different teams for the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) to be held in Philadelphia, PA June 27-29. Teams present at the May 5th wrap-up selected the winning teams by ballot at the conclusion of the day’s presentations. A team member from Bunker R-III, Bolivar R-I, West Plains R-VII, and Perrry County 32 will enjoy NECC courtesy of Hewlett-Packard. All teams were awarded certificates of completion. CONGTATULATIONS to all of the teams and especially to the four team members who will be attending NECC.

eMINTS QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Q. What can or should I do with the groups that put forth a lot of effort but struggle with the work? They either do not read the material provided to help them with the research or they seem unable to find the needed information in the material they read. They have few scanning skills.

A. What a perfect description of why we include scaffolding with lessons. Some students seriously lack the skills needed to organize and process information. If this is because of lack of exposure then teaching the skills is the answer, but often the real issue is cognitive obstacles that aren’t going to suddenly amend themselves in our students. Scaffolding (providing a graphic organizer of some sort with labels showing where concepts should go) will help those students who need the extra support to get to the meat of the information. While these may seem to take a lot of the inquiry out of a lesson, for those students who truly need it, scaffolding is a stepping-stone that must be in place for them to understand how to go about reading for content and processing information that is above their reading level. Several of the newer versions of software (such as Inspiration) have a feature where the notes and information recorded on the webs will be read aloud to the student by the computer. This is quite helpful when you have a strong reader reading the information and helping a group get their notes written. That is a great strategy but what happens when they then can’t read their notes either? Inspiration can be an answer to that as well as a great resource for creating graphic organizers.

COPYRIGHT QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Q. May an educator (e.g., administrator, classroom teacher, substitute teacher, or student teacher) other district employee, volunteer, or others duplicate a copyrighted song(s) from a phonograph record and/or CD onto a cassette tape?
A. No. This would create a derivative work which is reserved for the copyright owner.

UPCOMING 2005 CONFERENCES

June 16	Missouri Digital Government Summit A Government Technology Executive Leadership Forum Capitol Plaza Hotel, Jefferson City, MO http://www.govtech.net/events/conference.php?confid=239
June 20-22	Teaching and Learning Conference—“Shining Light on Student Achievement” Holiday Inn Select, Columbia, MO http://dese.mo.gov/calendar/deseconference.html
July 10-14	EDUCAUSE Institute: Instructional Technology Leadership Program http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/
July 11-12	SuccessLink Handheld Computer Conference Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach, MO http://www.educause.edu/ITL05
July 14-16	11th Annual Character Education Conference Hyatt Regency, Union Station Hotel, St. Louis, MO http://csd.org/characterplus/conference.html
July 21-22	Mid-America Conference on Cooperative Learning http://www.iasce.net/events.shtml
July 25-28	Missouri Association for Career and Technical Education Summer Conference http://www.mo-acte.org/conferences/main.html
July 29-30	Missouri Distance Learning Association Conference Kansas City, MO http://www.modla.org/2005 Conference.htm
August 2-5	Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference
October 16-18	Missouri Education Technology Conference: Enhancing Learning Technologies Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach, MO http://www.more.net/conferences/fall2005
November 18-20	National Council for the Social Studies Conference “Social Studies: The Heart of the Curriculum” Kansas City, MO http://www.afriedman.net/ncss/proposal.html

GRANT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Source: Technology & Learning
For descriptions of the individual grants, go to www.techlearning.com/grants.html

Deadline Grant

Ongoing Educational Foundation of America Grants
www.efaw.org

Ongoing Westinghouse Education
www.westinghouse.com/E2a.asp

Ongoing The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Education Grants Program
www.hewlett.org

June 10 Teacher Grants
www.nationalgeographic.com/education/teacher_community/get_grant.html#anchor_2

June 15 NEA’s Innovation and Learning and Leadership Grants
www.nfile.org

June 15 The Jordan Fundamentals Grant Program
www.nike.com/nikebiz/mikebiz.jhtml?page=26&item=community

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

June 1 Newsline published online

June 9 Missouri Rural Development Partnerships
Committee Meeting (1:15 pm-3:30 pm)
Governor Office Building, Room 316, Jefferson City, MO

June 25 Newsline articles due

FROM THE MAILBAG

Disadvantaged Youth, Adults
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/citizenship/giving/programs/up/

Grant Title: Microsoft Unlimited Potential Program
Organization: Microsoft Corp.
Eligibility: U.S. nonprofit organizations
Value: Up to $1 billion over 5 years
Deadline: July 19, 2005

Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) grants provide nonprofit organizations with funding to support technology training programs ranging from learning basic computer skills to using advanced business productivity applications. Donations of cash, software, curriculum, and technical expertise enable individuals to learn about technology and gain the information technology skills needed for employment in the IT field or other industry sectors. UP grants are made through Microsoft's U.S. and international subsidiaries, which work closely with local organizations to identify community-based technology and learning centers (CTLC) where IT skills training is a primary focus. Unsolicited proposals are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Over the next five years, the program plans to donate more than one billion dollars in such grants.

Contact: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/citizenship/giving/programs/up/

NSTA unveils online K-12 science guides
http://sciguides.nsta.org.

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has unveiled a first-of-its-kind resource to help transform the way teachers use the Internet to plan and provide science instruction to K-12 students. SciGuides is a “science toolbox” that allows teachers to forgo the exhaustive and often unproductive Internet search by giving them access to science-related instructional resources from NSTA-reviewed Web sites. Teachers can also use SciGuides to transform their science content into effective classroom resources by locating and incorporating online lesson plans, tips for teaching the content, and effective student assessments.

May i-SAFE Times
www.isafe.org

The May issue of The i-SAFE Times is now available on the website at http://www.isafe.org/newsletter/newsletter_er.html

The i-SAFE Times features stories about current Internet safety issues, important tips on how to protect you and your family’s Internet experience, and stories of success throughout the United States.

”Seven come 11” Gambling, especially poker, is becoming a national obsession. Celebrities play Texas Hold ‘Em nightly on TV while sports betting is a multi-billion dollar industry. Of course, online gambling is getting the rub off, and is predicted to experience double-digit growth over the next few years. It has proven to be a powerful and dangerous lure to unsupervised teens. This month’s lead article, “Rolling the Dice on Internet Gambling” lays out the risks (and very little reward) of online gambling and how it affects teenagers.

Here are some highlights of this month’s issue:

As documented in the deluge of news stories across the nation, cyber bullying is epidemic. Read how New Jersey is stepping up to makes its students safe from online bullying.

i-STIK Goes on Tour! i-STIK, the revolutionary digital credential device, is hitting the road to make chat rooms safe for youth everywhere. Congressman Pomeroy launched the tour in North Dakota, and i-SAFE was there.

June is Internet Safety Month, and i-SAFE is engineering the first-ever Youth Summit for Online Safety to celebrate. Over 700 high school students will gather to brainstorm a safer Cyberspace on the University of California, San Diego, campus on June 3rd. Read all about it.

News Flash: i-SAFE and Dr. Phil tackle cyber bullying.

Educator’s Corner: Event registration goes online.

ED Seeks Nominations for American Stars of Teaching – Help Nominate Tech Savvy Teachers!
http://www.teacherquality.us/TeacherToTeacher/AmericanStars.asp.

The U.S. Department of Education plans to honor classroom teachers and the teaching profession by recognizing the 2005 American Stars in Teaching. The Department is seeking information about teachers who are improving student achievement, using innovative strategies, and making a difference in the lives of their students. Teachers across all grade levels and disciplines will be honored next fall. One teacher or team from each state will be recognized for the outstanding job he or she is doing in the classroom.

To assist the Department in this effort, please nominate a teacher who you believe is an American Star in Teaching. This is a great opportunity to nominate teachers who infuse technology into their instructional practice to support learning for all students.

School Center - Effective Use of School Web Pages
www.k12schoolwebpages.com

School Center is a solution designed specially to improve communication within your district. Communication between teachers and parents, teachers and students, and even teachers and teachers can be improved using this powerful Content Management System designed only for school districts. School Center is a solution to get more, if not all, your staff updating web pages with less than 1 hour of staff development. Attached is a copy of the School Center brochure.

Below are just a few of the highlights of how this solution can help.

Ø     School Center is a software based Content Management System designed specifically for school districts to meet their strict guidelines to improve communication all through the district.

Ø     Thousands of school districts across the nation are using School Center as an easy way to get staff and teachers creating and updating web pages!!!

Ø     With over 50 entirely customizable components, it is easy to design your website the way you have always imagined it.

Ø     Takes less than one hour to train a classroom teacher on the software, (Really)

Ø     No need to abandon your existing district or school sites. We can seamlessly integrate what you already have in place.

Ø     You can host the web based software, or let us do it for you!

Ø     Unlimited users, space, and bandwidth.

Ø     Live tech support at the click of your mouse!!

Ø     Use your existing grade book to publish grades to the Internet for parents.

Ø     Security Preference allows you to decide who can make changes to what web pages, and what web pages should be password protected.

Ø     School Center seamlessly integrates into a school’s existing web work. You can not tell the difference when you are looking at pages created with our software, or any other HTML editor. With this simple system, people with very little technology experience can update our web pages.

Ø     If you are interested in Student-Safe E-mail, we can provide this as well.

Anoka-Hennepin Independent School District 11
A consortium of 13 towns north of Minneapolis, Minnesota was chosen as one of the top 10 technology districts in the nation. They use School Center software for their web presence. Read this article to find out why they were chosen. http://www.districtadministration.com/page.cfm?id=278

I would like to help you have as strong of a web presence as they do. Please give me a call to set up a short phone appointment. I will be able to show you a software program that can have ALL your staff making web pages with only 1 hour of training.

The appointment should not take over 20 minutes and you will need to be adjacent to a computer with Internet during the phone conversation. At that time, you will be given access to a full version of the web development software and shown several other schools that are currently using the software.

Feel free to visit our corporate web site, http://www.k12schoolwebpages.com, to see what other educators have said about School Center in our “User Testimonials” section.

There are many schools across the state of Missouri using School Center!!! Here are links to just a few of them!!

http://www.doniphanr1.k12.mo.us

http://www.jcps.k12.mo.us

http://gswpz41.remote.schoolcenter.com

www.iberia.k12.mo.us

http://classrooms.psdr3.org

Call me for a short phone appointment to get access to a full version of the software. At that time, I can also get you a list to even more districts using School Center for their powerful web presence.

-Daniel L. Rowley
darn@schoolcenter.com
http://www.k12schoolwebpages.com
1.888.642.4448

INTERNET SITES OF INTEREST

Grammar: Diagramming Sentences
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001595.shtml

Use these websites to learn how to diagram sentences. There are practice exercises, short movies. a PowerPoint presentation, and handouts.

Grammar: Parts of Speech
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001579.shtml

These websites give an overview of the eight parts of speech. There is a short film, a slideshow, worksheets, and interactive activities. There are links to eThemes resources on each of the eight parts of speech and diagramming sentences.

Grammar: Parts of Speech: Conjunction
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001594.shtml

These websites are about conjunctions. Learn what a conjunction is, see lists of conjunctions, and complete interactive activities.

Grammar: Parts of Speech: Interjection
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001593.shtml

These websites are about interjections. Learn what interjections are and test your knowledge with interactive activities.

Literature: “A Boy at War” by Harry Mazer
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001581.shtml

These websites are about the book “A Boy at War” by Harry Mazer. Includes reviews and activity ideas. There is also a literature circle guide for the sequel “A Boy No More.” Explore links about Pearl Harbor and life on the home front during World War II. Includes links to eThemes resources on Pearl Harbor, World War II, and historical fiction writing.

Technology: Movie Maker Projects
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001585.shtml

These sites focus on how to integrate technology, specifically digital movies, in the classroom. Ideas, lesson plans, and samples of movie projects are included. An eThemes on Windows 2.1 Movie Maker is included.

Technology: Student Email Accounts
www.emints.org./ethemes/resources/S00001588.shtml

The following sites are email service providers for kids, teachers, and parents. All services include different types of spam control, filtering systems, and adult supervision. Includes a lesson plan and email exercises.

Vintage Games
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001586.shtml

These sites provide information about old-time games. Learn about the games, how to play these games, the history of the game, and interesting facts about the game. Pictures and a video clip are included.

World War II for Elementary Students
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001590.shtml

These websites are about World War II. Learn why the war started and what life was like for children during the war. Includes games, quizzes, videos, and audio interviews with World War II veterans. There are links to eThemes resources on the Holocaust and the 1930’s.

World War II for Upper Grades
www.wmints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000327

These sites cover the events of World War II (1939-1945). There are several first-hand accounts in text and audio from people involved in the war effort. Other topics include life on the home front, the role of women, and the type of airplanes and weapons used. Includes biographies, letters, images, posters, video, and audio clips. There are links to eThemes resources on various related topics.

Missouri: States Surrounding Missouri
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001592.shtml

These sites include information about states surrounding Missouri. Learn about the history, symbols, and facts of each state. Online quizzes, games, songs, virtual tours, and pictures are included. Includes links to eThemes resource on Native Americans and geography of the mid-west.

Rockets
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001589.shtml

Learn about rocket science. Explore a timeline of rocket development from 100 BC to the present Find out about Earth’s artificial satellite, Sputnik, and the space race between two countries. Read biographies of famous scientists and their rockets. Learn principles of rocketry and the physics and mathematics involved. There is a link to an eThemes resource on water bottle rockets. Includes a lesson plan, online rocket launch simulations, and photographs.

St. Louis Immigrants
www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001538.shtml

These sites focus on immigrants who settled in St. Louis. Includes location of settlements, current communities, immigrant’s influence on St. Louis development, cultural, and economy. Pictures, maps, video, and timelines are included. eThemes resources on St. Louis and Regional Foods are included.

Biodiversity
http://www.nbii.gov/issues/biodiversity/

Provides resources for learning about genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity. Explore databases on amphibians, birds, corals, fish, fires, invasive species, plants, oceans, watersheds, and wetlands. Examine genetic information on flies, worms, mice, and trees. (NBII,USGS)

Botany for Kids
http://www.nbii.gov/disciplines/botany/science.html

Offers activities for learning how leaves change color, how flowers grow, how plants fight disease and insects, why plants come in so many colors, tips for growing plants, and facts about fungi. Learn about seeds, composting, endangered plant species, fire, lichen, and "plant hunters" -- scientists who collect plant samples from around the world to trace a plant's evolution. (NBII,USGS)

Earth Explorers Series
http://science.hq.nasa.gov/education/earth_explorers/index.html

Profiles an atmospheric scientist who flies through hurricanes, an engineer who operates a spectro-radiometer (an instrument on a satellite), an ocean scientist, high school students whose science fair project took them to Croatia, and other "Earth explorers." (NASA)

Earth's Magnetic Field
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/

This is the focus of the POETRY website, which explores solar storms and how they affect us, space weather, and the Northern Lights. A 64-page workbook of hands-on activities examines Earth's magnetosphere. Create a classroom magnetometer. Solve the space science problem of the week. (NASA)

Gravity Probe B
http://einstein.stanford.edu/

A "relativity gyroscope" experiment designed to test two unverified predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity (1916): that the presence of a mass in space, such as the Earth, would warp local spacetime, creating a dip or curve in spacetime, and that the rotation of a mass in space would twist or drag the local spacetime frame around it. An educator's guide and space science activities are included. (NASA)

Infrared Astronomy Tutorial
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/ir_tutorial/

Examines infrared light, how it was discovered, infrared astronomy, atmospheric windows, and more. An infrared astronomy timeline is included, along with links to news and discoveries, images, and classroom activities. (NASA)

Magnetic Field Activities for the High School Classroom
http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/outreach/ed

Helps students understand the vector nature of fields, the ubiquity of fields in the environment, and the 3-dimensionality of fields. Activities include mapping the magnetic field of a room, making a magnetometer, and studying plasma. (NASA)

Radio JOVE: Planetary Radio Astronomy for Schools
http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Helps students and amateur scientists observe and analyze natural radio emissions of Jupiter and the Sun. Through the study of their magnetic fields and their plasma (charged particle) environments, we are better able to understand the Earth. (NASA)

Seeing the Invisible
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/class6-8.htm

Offers a guide and workbook to help students discover that the sun emits light in wavelengths outside the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Activities allow students to view unique features of the Sun that are revealed only by certain spectral wavelengths of light. (NASA)

Solar Storms and You
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry//higley.html

A series of six workbooks on solar activity and sunspots, solar wind, magnetic storms, aurora, and satellite design (Grades 7-9). (NASA)

Timeline of the Universe
http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/library/poster/poster.html

An online tutorial that traces the 15-billion-year history of the Universe. It starts with the Big Bang and discusses the formation of elements in stars, planetary systems, Earth-like planets, and Jupiter-like planets. The "chemistry of life" is also examined. (NASA)    http://sciguides.nsta.org.

DESE 3370-33 6/05