pre-2011 middle school ideas

[Anonymous]

I have taught Language Arts for the last 10 years, and I have discovered that students in Middle School react positively to images and graphics. While taking a look at the Pacific Asia Museum and their Buddha exhibit, I started thinking of a way to have them use the Internet Resources available on that website, which contains several excellent graphics and photos, along with some insightful and concise information on that spiritual figure. I haven't quite decided what to do for the final activity, but it could probably include some reflections on the images themselves, the themes, and might even put together a field trip to the museum's location. Our principal has expressed interest in developing more hands-on activities, projects, and multi-intellegences lessons. I need to explore and give the website more time to come up with an exciting and involving learning experience for my students. Take a look at it. It's very informational and with a nice design.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for sharing this resource with us. I will pass it along to my school's 7th grade teachers and will use it to show some of my Language Arts 8th graders how informational/historical presentations do not have to be dull.

The PowerPoint you put together is a work of art and love. Once again, great job.

[Anonymous]

I put together a website which will help teachers at the middle and high school levels create webquests in which they can use in their classrooms. An example is given on the geography of East Asia. Please see:
http://international.ucla.edu/asia/lessons/kmilton/

[Anonymous]

My middle school students have been working on creating and illustrating stories with ppt. We will start an expository unit in a few days and that is one I expect to to get online.

lm[Edit by="lmoakes on Oct 1, 3:14:58 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I also love implementing technology into the classroom. I've found a website in which students can utilize the Internet to create a multimedia scrapbook about China. The students' task is to surf through the net links to find pictures, text, maps, facts, quotes, or controversies that capture his or her exploration of China. The students will then put these items together in a multimedia scrapbook. This would prove to be a great introductory project to allow students to "get to know" China before actually beginning a unit. In my opinion, this task would serve as a great KWL chart. Check it out and see for yourself...

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/China/scrapbook.html#intro

[Anonymous]

WOW!!! what a wonderful idea. I checked out the site and I will use this site and idea when I get to my China unit. Thank you very much for the heads up. This is a very innovative and fun way to introduce china to mIddle school students.
d senteno

[Anonymous]

This is a great website which has historical portrait paintings of all the emperors from the Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties

http://www.chinapage.com/emperor.html

Linda

[Anonymous]

Wow indeed! You've created a wonderful site, with many links to allow students to access what interests them. I've always wanted to create a more rich experience for the students to experience the silk road. Perhaps I'll borrow your idea and have them do a scrap book of a journey along the Silk Road. Thanks for all of your work. I'll be sure to refer back to your links. Your site is officially on my "favorites" list.

Malynn
Miraleste Intermediate School

[Anonymous]

I rely heavily on websites to supplement the information supplied by my textbook, for teaching ideas, and to "hook" students. I think it would be useful to collect all of the recommended websites for Middle School teachers in one place so I will start and hope everyone will reply here.

For those of you who would like to join me in cataloguing your ideas, I will include Clay's notes about including websites: "In evaluating websites, provide details on who created the resource, what are its particular strengths and weaknesses, and how might it be used by teachers."

One of the earliest problems I have enountered in teaching Asia in my classroom is the fact that I am completely ignorant when it comes to pronouncing Asian names. In preparing to teach my first lesson, I realized that I was just making up pronunciations and that if I actually taught these words I would be doing a great disservice to my 6th graders. They might make my mispronunciations their own for the rest of their lives. So I became determined to learn how to teach these words properly.

One website has become my best friend. I practice with it in the evenings and sometimes I even check it out just before I "go on stage" in front of my kids. This website allows you to type in almost any word and hear the pronunciation of it.

Of course, it has a lot of other features like an online dictionary and thesaurus, a computing dictionary, a medical dictionary, a legal dictionary, acronyms, idioms, an online Columbia encyclopedia, and an online Wikipedia enclyclopedia.

It is great for kids because it has illustrations of the definitions of words and important people, places and facts from history. For example, in describing "cuneiform," I needed to know how to define "wedge-shaped" and the site displayed a wedge of cheese. The kids really got it from that. The information is very timely as well. If you look up the Taklamakan Desert, you will find a photo from space of a dust storm in the Taklamakan taken on June 25, 2005.

The website address is: http://www.thefreedictionary.com

Who created the resource and its particular strengths and weaknesses are described in detail on its homepage:

"Wikipedia is a Web-based, free-content encyclopedia written collaboratively by volunteers and sponsored by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. It contains entries both on traditional encyclopedic topics and on almanac, gazetteer, and current events topics. Its purpose is to create and distribute a free international encyclopedia in as many languages as possible. Wikipedia is one of the most popular reference sites on the internet, receiving around 60 million hits per day.

The English section of Wikipedia has over 730,000 articles and is growing fast. It is edited by volunteers in wiki fashion, meaning articles are subject to change by nearly anyone. Wikipedia's volunteers enforce a policy of "neutral point of view" whereby views presented about notable persons or literature are summarized without an attempt to determine an objective truth. Because of its open nature, vandalism and inaccuracy are problems in Wikipedia.

The status of Wikipedia as a reference work has been controversial, and it is both praised for its free distribution, free editing and wide range of topics and criticized for alleged systemic biases, preference of consensus to credentials, deficiencies in some topics, and lack of accountability and authority when compared with traditional encyclopedias. Its articles have been cited by the mass media and academia and are available under the GNU Free Documentation License."

[Anonymous]

In trying to keep all the Chinese dynasties straight in my head, I came across a great website published by Minnesota State University.

It has a great visual of a Timeline of Chinese Dynasties that makes it very easy to see who came first etc. I plan to display it on the overhead whenever I am speaking of a particular dynasty or time in Chinese history.

It has an added value in that you can click on each of the dynasty names and be taken to another webpage detailing important facts about the particular dynasty. There are relevant maps, pictures of artifacts and brief summaries of the important events for each dynasty. This would be a good website to include in a class Webquest assignment. A bibliography is included.

Website address: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/timeline.html#ancient

Published by:
MSU EMuseum
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mankato, MN 56001 USA
1-800-627-3529

[Anonymous]

I teach grades 6 & 7 in Palos Verdes and I am also a big fan of history alive to supplement the textobook. There are great activities for both 6 & 7. 6th grade now has overheads which I would find very helpful instead of getting out the slide projector all of the time. I am not sure if their are overheads yet for grade 7.

[Anonymous]

I work in Palos Verdes and my department is going to re do its curriculum this December for the last two trimesters. I went to the UCLA Center for East Asian Studies Ed REsources and found a great lesson on comparing AFrica, Asia Eruopean and Mesoamerican civilizations that I will explore more. I am really excited to find this great forum full of resources.

[Anonymous]

I love comparisons. Will you let us know about some of your findings when you are done?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'm also a fan of History Alive, I've only useed it this year so we have not gotten to Asia yet with my kids. I am planning to do a research/internet project that ties to the Great Wall.

[Anonymous]

Anyone have any suggestions for a 6th grade novel tied to the Asia CA standards?

[Author]

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