Archive for the ‘history’ category

« Older Entries

Free Literature Study Guides

December 4th, 2019

 

It’s Wednesday, December 4, 2019, and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Glencoe Literature Library

(www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/)

Age Range: 11-18 (Grades 6-12, with parental supervision)

 

This website is a great place to get free and comprehensive literature study guides for a variety of notable books.

When you get to the site you’ll see an alphabetical menu of book titles. Simply click on the book of interest to you and a new page opens containing a brief synopsis of the book, related readings, and a link to the downloadable Study Guides (about 25-35 pages) in PDF format. Some of the book titles are: 

  • Animal Farm
  • Beowulf
  • The Call of the Wild
  • Great Expectations
  • Jane Eyre
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • The Scarlet Letter
  • To Kill A Mockingbird
  • Where the Red Fern Grows
  • and many more!

Click on the “Study Guide” and the PDF file opens (it may take a minute to fully download). The Study Guide is comprehensive for each book and includes classroom activities that can be easily tweaked for individual use including: 

  • A Focus Activity
  • Vocabulary Preview
  • Notes for Character Summarizations
  • Questions that Prompt Literature Analysis
  • Writing Assignments
  • Interdisciplinary Connections to Science, History, and Social Studies

All of this is neatly formatted so that you can print out the activity pages separately or as an entire unit. The beauty here is that you can pick and choose the items that help your students get the most out of their reading experiences.

No comments »

Posted in history

Tags:

Fun Periodic Table of Videos

October 15th, 2019

 

It’s Tuesday, October 15, 2019, and time for Science at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Periodic Videos

(www.periodicvideos.com/)

Age Range: 8-18 (Grades 3-12, with parental supervision)

 

What a find! This website teaches the periodic table with videos!

When you click on an element on the periodic table, it plays a video showing educational experiments and explanations about that element. (Okay, while this site is probably designed for middle school, high school, and beyond, younger children will enjoy seeing some of the experiments. Plus, we’ve found that little kids lap up information about the Periodic Table, so don’t be shy about introducing them to it.)

This is so much fun! Each video is short (up to about 10 minutes) and provides basic information about the featured element, it’s history, and how it is used. You can tell the chemists, who narrate while demonstrating experiments with the various elements, love what they do!

Consider starting with Lithium (Li). It’s very reactive in water and the clip is fun to watch. Then try Hydrogen (H) or Helium (He) to see a big bang! (Careful – kids may be tempted to try this at home, so parental guidance and safety discussions are required.) The Phosphorus (P) video will really amaze your kids when they learn there’s about a pound of this reactive element in their bodies!

The scientists in the lab have a lot fun demonstrating the properties of the elements – and their antics with beakers, Bunsen burners, and bloopers are narrated by mild-mannered professor Martyn Poliakoff who has wonderful, wild, Einstein-ish hair! Some of his descriptions are hilarious – such as when he describes what can be done with Nitrogen (N). (Preview it, as it might alarm younger children.)

Note: We didn’t watch all of the videos. Therefore, parents AS ALWAYS should preview the videos BEFORE showing them to children to determine suitability of content.

The Periodic Table of Videos is educational, fun, and not to be missed!

No comments »

Posted in history

Tags:

The Science and History of Color

August 10th, 2019

 

It’s Saturday, August 10, 2019, and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Color Matters for Kids

(https://colormatters.com/color-resources/color-matters-for-kids)

Age Range: 6-12 (Grades 1-8, with parental supervision)

 

At this website, real-life Color Professor Jill Morton, provides kids with information about the science, history, and symbolism of color. 

The topics are quite unusual and include: 

  • How Animals See Color – Explanations and actual photographs that demonstrate what you see and what your dog sees.
  • Why Are School Buses Yellow? – Enjoy a brief discussion of “true yellow” and some facts about the color yellow you might not have known.
  • Look Inside the Eye – Find out how cones and rods in the eye’s retina determine the colors that humans, insects, birds and animals see.
  • Colors & What You Wear – What do you know about the colors of pink and blue? Find out what colors mean in different cultures.
  • And more

When you are through exploring the kids’ section of the site, use the menu to explore color in depth. Professor Morton provides the sum total of every color course she’s ever taught and all the research she’s conducted on this site that is a continuation of her passion for color. You’ll find out how color affects:

  • Symbolism
  • Design
  • Marketing
  • The Body
  • Vision
  • Science
  • And more!

No comments »

Posted in history

Tags:

Telescopes, Black Holes and More!

June 25th, 2019

 

It’s Tuesday, June 25, 2019, and time for Science at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Amazing Space

(amazing-space.stsci.edu/)

Age Range: 5-18 (Grades K-12, with parental supervision)

 

Today’s website is courtesy of the Education Group of the Space Telescope Science Institute that promotes “the science and majestic beauty of the universe to the education community.”

When you get to the homepage, you will see “Resources by Topic”. Or use the menu to the right of it to explore this site that includes: 

  • Online Explorations — Interactive games and activities about an array of topics including: the force of gravity; comet facts, myths, & legends; black holes; planning a Hubble servicing mission; the history of telescopes from Galileo to modern observatories; and more!
  • The Star Witness — An online newsletter that features the latest news about the Hubble telescope.
  • Tonight’s Sky — Watch a video about what you can expect to see in the current night sky. An incredible aid for finding constellations, deep sky objects, planets, and celestial events from your own backyard.

Then at the bottom, check out: Homework Help — Not just help, but suggestions for educational research projects about all aspects of space along with interesting facts and trivia. You can also get directions for how to build a model Hubble Telescope.

No comments »

Posted in history

Tags:

Performing Arts with Bob Hope

April 27th, 2019

 

It’s Saturday, April 27, 2019, and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Bob Hope and American Variety

www.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/)

Age Range: 11 and up (Grades 6 and up, approximately; children with parental supervision)

 

The Library of Congress offers this free online presentation of the life of entertainer Bob Hope and the history of American Variety entertainment including Vaudeville, Radio, Movies, Television, and more.


Using photographs, illustrations, and text, this exhibit provides a biography of Hope’s career that provides fascinating historical information about the performing arts as well. 

When you get to the website use the menu in the middle that includes:

  • Early Life – Find out where Bob Hope was born, his real name, and how he got his start in show business.
  • Vaudeville – Discover Hope’s journey through vaudeville and get some terrific insight about what made this artform so popular.
  • Motion Pictures – Learn about the country’s transition to film making and the role of Hope’s series of “Road” pictures from 1940-1962 with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour.
  • Joke File – Explore Hope’s theft-proof joke vault with more than 85,00 pages of  bits, sketches, and jokes created by his team of comedy writers.
  • On The Road: USO Shows – Read about Hope’s 50-years of performing variety shows for U.S. troops.
  • And more!

This interesting exhibition about Hope’s life provides keen insight into American history, culture, life, and values. It may springboard interest in watching some of Hope’s films that the whole family may find entertaining. You can rent DVDs of Hope’s “Road” pictures such as Road to Singapore and Road to Rio. Your public library may have them as well.

No comments »

Posted in history

Tags:

Colonial History Games & More

April 18th, 2019

It’s Thursday, April 18, 2019, and time for Social Studies at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Colonial Williamsburg-Kids Zone

(www.history.org/kids/index.cfm)

Age Range: All (All grades; children with parental supervision)

 

Did you ever wonder what life was really like in colonial days? Wonder no longer! At this Colonial Williamsburg Foundation website, students of all ages can enjoy games, interactives, and podcasts designed to help them learn about colonial history.

When you get to the site, you can “Tour the Town” (an illustrated map), learn about “Colonial People”, or get right to the “Popular Games and Activities”. There are 3 pages of games and activities (some specifically for iPad) such as:

  • Colonial Days Coloring Book
  • Coffee Bean Solitaire
  • Colonial Word Search
  • Tool Trouble
  • And more!

Also, be sure to check out the horizontal menu at the top of the page including:

  • History – Read educational bios, essays, and articles on the everyday lives of extraordinary colonial Americans. Learn about the people, places, life, revolution, trades, clothing, and more.
  • Multi-Media – Enjoy slideshows, videos, podcasts, audios, games and more on every aspect of colonial life.
  • And more!

This site is a great way to introduce the history of colonial America and enhance any study of it.

No comments »

Posted in history

Tags:

css.php