logy Instructional Techno es 5-12 Language Arts Grad

Volume 1, Issue 1 August/September 2012

BVCPS

Inside this issue:

Feature Article: 1 Unusual Ways to Use the Web in a Language Arts Class Keyboarding Is Not the Problem Technology Equipment Rental Instructional Technology Online Resources Discovery Education eMediaVA Internet Safety Technology Services 2 3 3 3 1 2 2

Unusual Ways to Use the Web in a Language Arts Class

Everyone knows there are numerous websites with interactive language arts activities. In fact, youll find a list of some of those sites on page 4 of this newsletter and in future issues. But you can do so much more with the web in your language arts classes! This can be done with a regular or interactive whiteboard. Project an interesting webpage on the whiteboard something that relates to your students interests. Make sure the text is big enough to be read by all your students. There are a number of skills you can now teach: Parts of Speech: Ask your students to locate all of the verbs or nouns, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs, etc. on the page. Have your students locate all of the contractions and rewrite them as separate words. Ask students to identify the type of writingpersuasive, informational, etc. Give different groups of students sections of text and ask them to rewrite using as many synonyms words as possible. Once you start looking, Im sure youll find many other ways you can use a simple webpage to teach language arts SOLs. Please sharesend your ideas to Sue Way for inclusion in future newsletters.

Keyboarding Is Not the Problem

Last year students fieldtested the new online Writing SOL tests. I had the chance to observe several classes during this test, and I discovered something I hadnt expected. Its not their keyboarding skills that caused problemsit was their word processing skills! Even students who havent mastered correct hand positioning or two handed typing had no problems typing their essay. However, they struggled with seemingly easy concepts such as when to use the Enter and Tab keys. We need to ensure that our students are typing on the computer on a

Recommended Web- 4 sites

regular basis and that they understand the function of the keys on the keyboard, not just their location!

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Instructional Technology

Technology Equipment Rental

We have a rental program for certain types of technology equipment. This equipment is available for shortterm checkout and can be used for field trips, special projects, etc. Equipment is available on a firstcome, first serve basis. Contact Sue Way to reserve equipment. 4 Garmin GPS units 6 iPod Touches* (gen2 which has a camera) 10 iPod Nanos* (record and play audio files) 1 Panasonic Digital Camcorder 4 Kodak pocket digital video cameras* 2 Canon Powershot digital cameras 1 Olympus digital camera 1 Avervision document camera *lapel microphones also available

Instructional Technology Online Resources

If you havent already done so, check out our two instructional technology resource websites. This sites will be constantly updated with links, lesson plans, how-tos and much, much more. We appreciate your ideas and suggestions. So let us know if theres something youd like to see on these sites. We would also like you to share your instructional technology activities, lessons, and links. So if you have a technology-infused lesson you wouldnt mind sharing, send it to Sue Way and shell post it on our wikispace. Maybe youve found a great website. Again, please let us know, wed love to share it. EdTech Wikispace ITRT Resources

Wi

kispaces and more...

Discovery Education
Discovery Education offers a breadth and depth of digital media content that is immersive, engaging and brings the world into the classroom to give every student a chance to experience fascinating people, places, and events. All content is aligned to state standards, can be aligned to custom curriculum, and supports classroom instruction regardless of the technology platform. (Discovery Education, 2012) Once again, we have a subscription to Discovery Education, or as some remember it, United Streaming. More than videos, DE offers lesson plans, worksheets, assessments and more, all aligned to VA SOLs. If you dont have an account, it only takes a few minutes to register. Visit http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ and use your school passcode to activate your account. Enderly Kling Parry McCluer Middle Parry McCluer High 79A4-A6AF 47EE-C974 947F-71A2 240B-8333

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eMediaVA
eMediaVA is Virginia's premier statewide digital media distribution system featuring the best "purposebuilt" educational content available. Brought to you by the Virginia Public Media Stations* and PBS, eMediaVA is constantly evolving to better meet the needs of Virginias teachers and students. Whats even better, eMediaVA is free for Virginias teachers and students!
* Blue Ridge PBS, Roanoke; Community Idea Stations, Richmond; WETA, Arlington; WHRO, Norfolk; and WVPT, Harrisonburg. (eMediaVA, 2012)

able to offer this subscription free to teachers and schools in Virginia. Use this in place of or to supplement Discovery Education. As eMediaVA increases their library, this service should actually replace Discovery Education and make it easier to find resources since all resources match VA SOLs instead of SOLs for other states which might not be useful for us. http://www.emediava.org/

You will receive an email from eMediaVA with your log-in information. This service is being given to us free of charge for the next two years. eMediaVAs hope is that, with grants and other funding, they will always be

Internet Safety
Did you know that the VA DOE mandates that every teacher include Internet Safety as part of their content instruction? This isnt as difficult as it might seem. There are numerous resources available to help you including VA DOE guides with content activities correlated to the SOLs: Guidelines and Resources for Internet Safety in Schools.

and Ideas for Integrating Internet Safety into the Curriculum. The DOE has also partnered with a variety of organizations to provide teachers with quality online activities such as Professor Garfield which has activities on Cyberbullying, Online Safety, Fact or Opinion, Forms of Media as well as activities to help students in other areas of their lives. Diversity, Giving Back, Self-Control, Peer Pressure, Listening, and Self-

Esteem. Another great partnership with a local law enforcement agency provides Virginia schools free access to the NetSmartz Workshop and all of its resources on Internet Safety. Links to these resources and many more may be found on the VA DOE Internet Safety website.

Technology Services
BVCPS underwent a lot of technology updates and changes this summer. I know that there have many instances where things didnt work quite the way we wanted them to as we began our school year, but our technology staff worked hard over the summer, and is continuing to work hard, to provide you with updated laptops, better Internet connections, and more. Please be patientthey have many demands on their servicesand use the proper method to request assistancethe Technology Support Ticket. A link to this service may also be found on BVs home page.

Our Technology Staff

Mark Buckhalt Information Technology and Network Manager Robin Williams Technology Specialist/Database Kathy Jennings Technology Specialist/Webmaster

Contact Information District ITRT: Sue Way sue.way@bvcps.net 540.817.8632 Office located at Parry McCluer Middle Schoo l

www.bvcps.net

Websites: https://sites.google.com/a/bvc resources/ ps.net/itrtcom/

BVCPS

http://bvcpsedtech.wikispaces.

Recommended Websites
From the DOE:
Snapshot of a Modern Learner Use Technology to Upend Traditional Education Blooms Taxonomy: The 21st Century Version Copyright New ruling about copyright and textbooks in schools. Educational Technology Role of technology in our schools.

Online Activities for Students:

Torture the Teacher: Game100 most commonly misspelled words. General Tsos Spicy Synonyms : Gamesynonyms. Extreme Sentence Surgeon: Game correct sentences and paragraphs. Grammar Gorillas: Parts of speech, choose nouns/verbs or all parts of speech. Sentence Sort: Simple, compound, complex sentences.

Teacher Resources:
National Council of Teachers of English Teach It: British rather than American English, but packed with great resources. Using English: Designed for ESL teachers, it is also a great source of lesson plans for other English teachers. One Stop English: Over 8000 resources for English teachers.