Archive for the ‘Social Sciences’ category

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Media Awareness Games for Kids

May 27th, 2010

Recommended Website:
Media Awareness

Age Range: 9-14 (Grades 4-8, approximately)

ClickScholar Cie recommended this website that offers free, interactive, multidisciplinary, educational games that help kids use critical thinking skills to navigate their way through the volume of media, consumer, and pop culture influences they are exposed to everyday.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu of games that include:

  • Co-Co’s AdverSmarts: An Interactive Unit on Food Marketing on the Web — Kids design a website for a popular cereal and learn about marketing techniques that foster brand loyalty and consumerism.
  • Privacy Playground: The 1st Adventure of the Three CyberPigs — Kids (ages 8-10) learn to detect marketing ploys, spam, and how to protect their personal information and avoid online predators. A Teacher’s Guide provides activities and handouts for classroom use that can be tweaked for homeschooling.
  • CyberSense and Nonsense: The 2nd Adventure of The Three CyberPigs (ages 9-12) — Learn the rules of netiquette, how to distinguish between fact and opinion, and how to recognize bias and harmful stereotyping in online content. A Teacher’s Guide gives info on “cyberbullying” with activities and handouts.
  • Jo Cool or Jo Fool — Take a CyberTour of 12 mock Web sites to test kids’ online savvy and surfing skills. Includes a quiz that provides food for thought about various Web issues they may encounter. Teacher’s Guide provides further activities and resources.
  • The Target is You!: Alcohol Advertising Quiz — A quiz for kids ages 11-14 to help increase students’ understanding of alcohol marketing on TV commercials, branded clothing, ads in magazines, websites, and sponsorships at sporting and music events. The quiz helps students understand how these marketing messages can influence their attitude toward drinking. Includes a companion activity to reinforce learning.
  • Allies and Aliens: A Mission in Critical Thinking — Increases students’ ability to recognize bias, prejudice and hate propaganda on the Internet and in other media. A Teacher’s Guide provides supporting discussion points and student activities.

All of the games are interactive, colorful, animated, and narrated presentations designed to engage kids in learning how to deal with the issues and challenges they encounter in all forms of media — especially when using technology tools like computers, video games, and smart phones, etc.

As always, parents should preview the games to determine suitability of content. These games, when used with parental guidance, can open the door to important discussions about Internet savvy and safety.

Enjoy!

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Posted in Social Sciences

Free Multi-Subject Lesson Snips

May 26th, 2010

Recommended Website:
Lesson Snips

Age Range: 5-13 (about grades K-8)

I am continuously AMAZED by the educational material available for free on the Net. While this is not a multi-media site, it does offer free, multi-subject lessons and worksheets for teachers in downloadable and printable pdfs. The lessons can be tweaked for homeschool use.

For the purpose of today’s review, I’m focusing on the Language Arts portion of the site – but you’ll be happy to know there are “Lesson Snips” for Math, Science, and Social Sciences as well.

When you get to the Language Arts page, you’ll see a menu of the available lessons covering topics such as:

  • Parts of Speech — including individual lessons on verbs, irregular verbs, nouns, proper nouns, pronouns, personal pronouns, intensive and reflexive pronouns, articles, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, adjectives, infinitives, gerunds, participles, direct and indirect objects, interjections and more.
  • Reading — including identifying vowel sounds and sounds in word families, reading comprehension, sequencing, understanding plot, identifying the problem and solution, framing questions (who, what, where, when, how, and why), understanding narrative poetry, rhyming, and more.
  • Spelling, Writing, and Vocabulary — including basic sentence structure, capitalization, synonyms and antonyms, homonyms, using similes and metaphors, using the right tense, etc.

Click on any lesson and a new page opens with a lesson summary, the objectives, and the suggested grade range. Click on the “Get Lesson” button to download and print out the lesson and associated worksheets.

While there is a “schoolish” quality to these lessons, many of the suggested activities or the subjects covered would interest a vast array of learners and, with just a tweak, can accommodate a variety of learning styles.

If nothing else, review the menus in each subject category — you’re sure to find inspiration for introducing new ideas and topics to your kids.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you enjoy recommendations for outstanding resources, such as the ones above, you’ll love my book, Carschooling. Get your copy today!

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Posted in Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Sciences

History of the Renaissance

May 20th, 2010

Hi!  It’s Thursday, May 20, 2010 and time for Social Sciences at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
The Renaissance Connection

Age Range: 10-18 (Middle/High School)

A ClickScholar requested information about the Renaissance Period. This site is an “oldie but goodie” from the ClickSchooling archives and worth sharing again because it’s one of the best sources for learning about the Renaissance.

Developed by the Allentown Art Museum, simply click your mouse button and travel 500 years into the past to discover Renaissance innovations that impact our lives today along with free lesson plans to enhance any study of Renaissance history.

When you get to the site you can choose to view the site with animations (requires Flash) or you can view the site in a text/HTML version. Either way, begin your exploration of the Renaissance by clicking on the following menu items:

*Art Explorer — Learn about Renaissance art, architecture, life, trade, exploration, and developments in science and technology through a timeline, map, or alphabetical listing of topics.
 
*Innovations — Trace modern achievements to their origins in Renaissance times by using a “Time Telescope” and then create your own innovations online, or check out a gallery of innovations conceived by other visitors to this website.
 
*Be A Patron of the Arts — See how families of great wealth supported the arts by commissioning work to glorify God, their cities, and themselves.

*The Artist’s Life — Take a peek into the lives of great art masters including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonnarotti, and Ugo da Carpi.
 
*Lesson Plans — Find free curricular lesson plans in downloadable pdf format for middle school grades that include language arts, art, science, social studies, and math.

In addition to all of the above, you will find a glossary and information for classroom teachers on how to use the site.

This site can be used in any home learning environment, and the lessons can be easily adapted for homeschool use. This is a terrific site to explore with your family — but because it is so extensive, parents may want to visit to determine the spots that will be of most interest to your children before inviting them to explore it with you. Allow plenty of time to view this website and don’t forget to bookmark it so you can return often.

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Posted in Social Sciences

Virtual Field Trip to Old Sturbridge Village

May 14th, 2010

Hi! It’s Friday, May 14, 2010 and time for a Virtual Field Trip at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Old Sturbridge Village

A Maryland ClickScholar recommended this website that offers a free virtual tour of Old Sturbridge Village to experience early New England life from 1790-1840. This is the companion website to one of the country’s largest living history museums where a staff of historians in costume reenact village life.

As explained at the website, the museum has “59 historic buildings on 200 acres, three authentic water-powered mills and two covered bridges. Visitors can ride in a stagecoach, view antiques, heirloom gardens, meet the farm animals, and take part in hands-on crafts year-round.”

The website offers the opportunity to explore this living history museum without leaving home.  When you get to the website, click on the map to take a photographic tour of the museum that is accompanied by text explanations of the exhibits that include:

*Friends Meetinghouse: Members of the Society of Friends were also called Quakers and had a distinctive way of life. 
 
*Tin Shop: In the 1830s, tinware shops competed successfully with pottery stores. 
 
*Salem Towne House: This Federal-style dwelling was the home of a prosperous farmer.  
   
*Printing Office: Rural printing offices produced books, broadsides, bills, and pamphlets. 
 
*Cider Mill: Cider mills used horsepower to press apples into cider, the region’s favorite domestic beverage. 
 
When you’re through taking the tour, use the menu on the left to learn more – and get some old-time recipes for Potted Cheese, Gourd Soup, and Marlborough Pudding.

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Posted in Social Sciences, Virtual Field Trip

Scary-BIG History Websites Index (CSAW)

May 13th, 2010

Hi! It’s Thursday, May 13, 2010 and time for Social Sciences at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Best History Sites

Age Range:  5-18 (Grades K-12, with Parental Supervision)

ClickScholar Chris sent me an email with the subject line you see in this review, “Scary-BIG History Websites Index!”  It got my attention – and it’s an accurate description of what you’ll find. 

This website maintains a free, massive archive to over 1200 history websites as well as links to hundreds of quality K-12 history lesson plans, teacher guides, activities, games, quizzes, and more.

When you get to this Google-ad supported site, you’ll see an introduction. Use the menu on the left side of the home page to find history websites, lessons, and activities in the following major categories:

  • Ancient/Biblical History
  • Medieval History
  • American History
  • Early Modern Europe
  • Modern History
  • World War II History
  • Military History
  • History Today with Choices
  • Art History
  • Oral History
  • General Resources
  • Maps
  • Lesson Plans/Activities
  • Games and Animation
  • Research

Click on any topic and a new page opens with a menu of links to websites in that category (many of which have been featured in ClickSchooling reviews in the past). Then click on the link of interest to explore the recommended website.

WARNING:  PARENTS, AS ALWAYS, SHOULD PREVIEW AND SUPERVISE USE OF THIS SITE. Google ads are sprinkled throughout this website, and it would be possible to click on one in error and wind up at a website that might not meet with your approval. The links archived at the site take you to other sites that have history content, but they may also have ads or commentary that may not contain appropriate content.
 
As explained at the website, “Best of History Web Sites aims to provide quick, convenient, and reliable access to the best history-oriented resources online in a wide range of categories…web sites that have been reviewed for quality, accuracy, and usefulness.” “Sites with engaging educational content and stimulating and useful multimedia technologies are most likely to be included in these pages. However, useful general resources and research-oriented sites have been included as well.”

This is a well-organized educational resource tool that will assist your efforts in the study of history.  It earns a ClickSchooling Award (CSAW) for excellence.

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Posted in Social Sciences

Virtual Tour of Alcatraz Prison

May 7th, 2010

Hi! It’s Friday, May 7, 2010 and time for a Virtual Field Trip at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Alcatraz Island

Age Range: 10 and up (with parental supervision)

At this National Parks Service multi-media website, you can take a virtual tour of the infamous prison that operated from 1934-1963 on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay.

You can also watch slide shows that explore the history of Alcatraz including its use as a military fort, the decades it was used as a federal penitentiary, and its occupation by American Indians from 1969-1971.

You can also learn about some of the correctional facility’s most notorious inmates including Al “Scarface” Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert “Birdman” Stroud.

This online exhibit features an extensive collection in the “Image Gallery” that includes historic photographs and documents, escape materials, correctional materials, and inmate artwork.

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Posted in Social Sciences, Virtual Field Trip