Links...with lesson suggestions

Came across this on Mental Floss, and have listened to it many times in the past few days. It's gorgeous. This kind of music would be perfect for the background of a classroom, if you used the songs that aren't in English or you can't really hear the religious aspect.

-

What a fascinating program--a Human Library! Leave it to the Canadians to think outside the box and try something completely different and totally awesome. Who would you want to check out and why? This could be an awesome homework assignment/essay topic for students of all grade levels!

-

A map of the world, if the largest countries had the biggest populations. Could be a fun geography tool. As a do-now, label three countries that don't move. Or look up the total populations of the top countries least populous countries. Would make for a great intro lesson about population density.

-

Have you seen the Japanese multiplication??
If you master this method, it might be a neat way to show kids who don't understand how to do 'standard' multiplication. Though I think you'd have to be able to explain how it works...which I completely don't. So maybe a neat thing for your high-level kids to play with and quiz each other on.


-

Science matters! But there isn't as much money for science fairs now. I'm not sure why science fairs cost money--wouldn't a class just do one on its own? or the school holds it in the gym? I think First Middle School did a Science Fair with one of the grades, in the gym, and I can't see how or why it would need a budget, let alone a budget in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe that's just because it's NYC and we're perennially broke? Anyway, it's interesting to think about. I didn't do a science fair last year; I barely had time to teach any science at all. The school didn't do a fair at all either, unless I just didn't hear about it (which is entirely possible). If you're an elementary teacher, do you do a science fair with your class? Does your school do a school science fair? Would you have time to work it in?

-

On This Week, Christiane Amanpour chronicled the tragic fallout of malnutrition in children in poverty--physical and mental stunting. One segment showed just how drastic the situation is in Guatemala--nine year olds in poor Guatemalan villages are up to a foot shorter than the mean, and Guatemalan children raised in the US are at or above the mean. There are learning repercussions as well. They do link to a charity-type page, which lists a number of charities that work to help people in poverty around the world. Many of them don't need a lot of money, so that would be a wonderful class project--raise as little as $14 for clean water or a month of nutritional food supplements.

-

Learn Me Good posted a link to Teachbad's hilarious article about replacing the entire student body. The rest of his site is brilliant too, in its brutal honesty, and I can't wait to read more. Even though I'm not a teacher anymore.

-

Oh, and if you have an iDevice and you need a new game, look no further than Fruit Ninja. It's so fun and satisfying and addictive! You can even play against a friend!