Christmas Time

When the Puritans banned Christmas

In 1659 the Puritan government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony banned Christmas. This religious minority considered that such celebration was unnecessary and that it distracted from religious discipline as the daily celebrations often led to drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling and other forms of excess. They also felt that celebrating Christmas would be idolatry due to this holiday's pagan origins.

Pixabay (@pixabay)

Since Pixabay was launched in November 2010 a growing community (over 100,000 peopel from allover the world) has turned this project into the greatest, high-quality source for free images and videos. 

With a total of 1.5 million free images, most of them photos (1.2 million) and several hundred thousands of illustrations, vector graphics and clip arts, Pixabay is the largest collection of free quality images.

You can search public domain images by using keywords or by browsing through the libraries. You can download them in different sizes.

Pixabay is one of the best choices to find free quality images for classroom projects avoiding copyright violations.

Webpage:

https://pixabay.com/

Blog: https://pixabay.com/es/blog/

Forum: https://pixabay.com/es/forum/

App on GooglePlay:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pixabay.pixabayapp

App on iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1178021455

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/pixabay

A Christmas Carol: A Reading by Monica Dickens

Lilu's House. Language Skills through Experiments

For children, everyday life is full of questions. Inspired by this, an international teacher team from seven countries developed specific ideas and practical advice on how to promote the basic scientific knowledge of primary school children while simultaneously training their skills in reading, writing and speaking. Available in English and German. (Source Science on Stage)

Brochure in English.

https://www.science-on-stage.de/images/downloads/ws17233_SonSDE_Broschuere_SpracheGS_EN_WEB.pdf

Additional materials:

https://www.science-on-stage.de/page/display/en/7/126/0/102/lilus-haus-zusatzmaterialien/

Other free of charge teaching materials developed by European STEM teachers and offered by Science on Stage:

https://www.science-on-stage.de/page/display/en/7/7/0/unterrichtsmaterialien/

DeepGrammar

DeepGrammar is a grammar checker that integrates deep symbolic processing and deep learning (artificial neural networks). It uses deep learning to learn a model of language, and it then uses this model to check text for errors in three steps:

- Compute the likelihood that someone would have intended to write the text.

- Attempt to generate text that is close to the written text but is more likely.

- If such text is found, show it to the user as a possible correction.

The following page demonstrates a prototype of DeepGrammar.

http://www.deepgrammar.com/

Grammar Gamble

Grammar Gamble is an English grammar test that helps you learn English faster.

Simply log in, answer 10 questions and build the highest score you can. At each question you can bet some of your 'money' on the answer. If you choose right, you win the money. If you choose wrong, you lose it.

Grammar Gamble is aimed at Intermediate English learners, although all learners will enjoy it. (Source Grammar Gamble).

http://www.grammargamble.com/

ReadWorks

ReadWorks is a nonprofit that provides K-12 teachers with the largest, highest-quality library of curated nonfiction and literary articles in the country, along with reading comprehension and vocabulary supports, formative assessments, teacher guidance, and more. 

Everything ReadWorks does is based on proven cognitive science research, not unproven academic theory. 

(Source ReadWorks)

https://www.readworks.org/

On  Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ReadWorks/

On Twitter:
https://twitter.com/readworks

MIT Blossoms @MIT_BLOSSOMS

This video library contains over 100 math and science lessons, all freely available for teachers. 

You can browse and download lessons to use in your classroom. Every lesson includes video segments, a teacher's guide, downloadable hand-outs and a list of additional online resources relevant to the topic.

Find it all on:

https://blossoms.mit.edu/

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MIT_BLOSSOMS

On YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR_HiQVSl8_KZ9ItuleTnpQ/featured

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/MIT.BLOSSOMS

Understanding Science

The Understanding Science site was produced by the UC Museum of Paleontology of the University of California at Berkeley, in collaboration with a diverse group of scientists and teachers, and was funded by the National Science Foundation.

The mission of Understanding Science is to provide a fun, accessible, and free resource that accurately communicates what science is and how it really works. 

Its immediate goals are to (1) improve teacher understanding of the nature of the scientific enterprise, (2) provide resources and strategies that encourage and enable K-16 teachers to reinforce the nature of science throughout their science teaching, and (3) provide a clear and informative reference for students and the general public that accurately portrays the scientific endeavor. 
(Source: https://undsci.berkeley.edu/about.php).

Visit:

https://undsci.berkeley.edu/index.php

Resource database:

https://undsci.berkeley.edu/search/resources.php 

For teachers:

https://undsci.berkeley.edu/teaching/index.php

KinderArt.com @KinderArt

Created in 1997, KinderArt makes teaching art easier for teachers, parents and artists with art lesson plans art curriculum and tips for all ages. 

It offers thousands of ideas and activities which can be viewed by category or by grade (Preschool, Elementary, Middle and High School).

Visit:

https://kinderart.com/ 

Blog:

https://kinderart.com/category/blog/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/kinderart

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kinderartcom

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinderartcom/

Profesores visitantes en Estados Unidos, Canadá y Reino Unido

Recientemente se ha abierto esta posibilidad de solicitar una plaza para trabajar como profesor visitante en Estados Unidos, Canadá y Reino Unido. Son un total de 590 plazas, principalmente en Estados Unidos, para las modalides de enseñanza infantil, primaria y secundaria.

El plazo de presentación de solicitudes está abierto desde el 22 de noviembre hasta el 10 de diciembre.

Podéis consultar la convocatoria y condiciones en:

http://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano-mecd/catalogo/educacion/profesorado/convocatorias-para-el-extranjero/profesores-visitantes-eeuu-canada.html#dc

What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

Universal design for learning is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.

Recognizing that the way individuals learn can be unique, the UDL framework, first defined by David H. Rose, Ed.D. of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology in the 1990s, calls for creating curriculum from the outset that provides:

- Multiple means of representation to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge,

- Multiple means of expression to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know, and

- Multiple means of engagement to tap into learners' interests, challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to learn.

Visit.
http://www.cast.org/our-work/research-development#.W_sCdThKiM8

American English Dialect Course

Open Learning Inititative (OLI) from Carnegie Mellon University. A course (currently under development) for the pronunciation of the sounds of a Standard of American English Dialect. It supplies the necessary reinforcement of dialectical structure, audio, production technique and phonetic representation for each sound.

Follow the course on:

https://oli.cmu.edu/jcourse/lms/students/syllabus.do?section=df3c45870a0001dc4f2e84fe3e56803c

The Periodic Table of the Elements, in Pictures and Words

Created by Keith Enevoldsen, a software engineer at Boeing, this interactive Periodic Table of Elements shows the name, symbol, and atomic number of each element. It also illustrates the way in which we daily use, or come into contact with each element.

A very interesting resource for chemistry teachers and students.

Visit:

http://elements.wlonk.com/ElementsTable.htm

Paper Airplane Designs... also in your English class

Making paper airplanes is one of the funniest activities for children. This website contains many useful graphics if you or your students wnt to know how to meke paper airplanes, an activity where learning can take place.

Visit:

https://www.foldnfly.com/#/1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2

Other similar resources:

http://oer.educ.cam.ac.uk/wiki/Origami_Planes

http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/index.php

https://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/paper-planes

Basic English Speaking

English learning resource with up to 75 lessons of various common topics that can help students survive in any English speaking country.

Lessons are designed in daily life conversation form and delivered with both texts and audio. A video with subtitles for each lesson is also added to help train pronunciation and speaking.

A very useful website to learn English.

Visit:

https://basicenglishspeaking.com/

Seterra.com Learn #geography the easy way

Seterra includes fun quizzes that help learn the name of countries, capital cities, rivers, lakes and other geological features.

A funny resource to learn geography through play.

Visit Seterra on

https://www.seterra.com/#quizzes

The Seterra app is available in 15 languages (Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish), and offers all the most popular quizzes from the online version.

On GooglePlay (Ad-supported version)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seterra.free

On iTunes

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/seterra-geography/id1168940059

On Twitter:

@SeterraGeo

EF English Proficiency Index 2018

EF English Proficiency Index aims to broaden the understanding of how and where English proficiency is developing around the world. 

In order to create this edition of the EF English Proficiency Index, they have analyzed the results of 1.3 million test takers who took their English test in 2017.

Full report:

https://www.ef.com/__/~/media/centralefcom/epi/downloads/full-reports/v8/ef-epi-2018-english.pdf

Spain. Country profile:

https://www.ef.com/wwpt/epi/regions/europe/spain/

Interactive English

YouTube channel with video lessons for ESL students. They focus on active language learning (pronunciation, reading, vocabulary, speaking). 

A very interesting resource if you want to improve your English skills.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2SUoo36iHgVLEK7EEVPIFQ/featured

Also on Twitter

@interactiveeng

Brainscape

Brainscape, founded by Andrew Cohen in 2010, is a website and mobile application that allows students and teachers to create, upload electronic flashcards, and to find flashcards created by other users around the world.

Flashcards are stored in the cloud and can be shared.

Visit:

https://www.brainscape.com/subjects

https://www.brainscape.com/

On iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brainscape-smart-flashcards/id442415567?mt=8

On Google Play;

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brainscape.mobile.portal&utm_source=global_co&utm_medium=prtnr&utm_content=Mar2515&utm_campaign=PartBadge&pcampaignid=MKT-Other-global-all-co-prtnr-py-PartBadge-Mar2515-1

STEM Learning

Supported by a unique partnership of Government, charitable trusts and employers, STEM Learning is a very interesting provider of education and careers support in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

They offer a range of suppoort and guidance to enhance the teaching and learning of STEM subjects.

(Source STEM Learning)

https://www.stem.org.uk/

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/STEMLearningUK

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/STEMLearningUK

On YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/MyScienceLearning/videos

DOGObooks.com

DOGO Media is an online network used by millions of students and teachers form around the world. 

It empowers kids to engage with digital media in a social, fun and safe environment. empowering kids to engage with digital media in a fun, safe and social environment. 

This network is named after a word that means young or small in Swahili.

One of its webpages DOGObooks.com, is devoted to book reviews by and for kids. They can discover, review and share their thoughts about books.

Visit DOGObooks.com on:

https://www.dogobooks.com/

Graded reading

Graded readers are essential materials for doing extensive reading. They are particularly designed to enable learners practice reading skills and provide an opportunity to reinforce known vocabulary. Through multiple exposures learners become familiar with grammatical structures and vocabulary. Moreover, learners experience how they function in texts and they are motivated to use the vocabulary and structures they have learnt in their communication. Graded readers motivate learners, help them gain reading fluency, enhance their vocabulary and grammar knowledge development.

Mustafa Albay (2017) The Benefits of Graded Reading. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies ISSN 2520-0968 (Online), ISSN 2409-1294 (Print), June 2017, Vol.3, No.4

Visit this website and you will read stories and articles for your level of English (three levels). Each text includes exercises to check your understanding:

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/graded-reading

Radio Garden

Radio Garden is an interactive map of live radio stations across the globe Radio Garden allows you to listen to thousands of live radio stations world wide by rotating the globe. 

Every green dot represents a city or town. You can tap on it to tune into the radio stations broadcasting from that city.

http://radio.garden/

On Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jonathanpuckey.radiogarden&hl=es

On App Store:

https://itunes.apple.com/es/app/radio-garden-live/id1339670993?mt=8

Voicepods

This A.I application converts texts to human-like audio sounds. 8 different voices are available in English. It also supports 16 International voices with Dutch, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Turkish, Spanish (Latin American and European), Hindi (Written as English, or Hindi)

Converted texts can be downloaded as MP3 audio files.

You can use it for free (5 conversions/ month) or paying for Premium features.

Visit:

https://www.voicepods.com/

NASA eClips

NASA eClips™ is a web-based video and educator resource repository that focuses on grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 and the general public. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections by exploring current applications of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, topics. .

(Source NASA eClips)

https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/

On Twitter

https://twitter.com/nasa_eclips

On Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/NASAeClips

On YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/user/NASAeClips

Classics for Kids

Classical music helps students to think more creatively, and stimulate the mind. It can also help teachers meet the educational objectives of their students.

Classics for Kids offers lesson plans and teaching resources that give educators and families practical plans and activities that use classical music to help children learn (composers, games, music, resources for parents and for teachers...)

(Source; Classics for Kids)

Visit:

http://www.classicsforkids.com/

YouTalk TV @YouTalkEnglish

Canal de YouTube orientado al aprendizaje del inglés que confiere una especial importancia a la pronuniciación y la fluidez en el uso de esta lengua, de una manera entretenida.

https://www.youtube.com/user/YouTalkEnglishNow/featured

Es especialmente curiosa la lista de reproducción que se refiere al inglés de algunos personajes famosos hablantes de español, tanto del mundo del espectáculo como de la política.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaNMsL7Umzwsp-Z5qeweoxqT2UYIitYqA

El canal está asociado a un blog al que se accede desde este enlace:

https://www.youtalk.es/blog

En Twitter:

https://twitter.com/YouTalkEnglish

En Facebook:

https://twitter.com/YouTalkEnglish

Talking about fall/ autumn

In this ESL (engVid) video lesson you will learn some basic vocabulary related to fall or autumn.

The Zinn Education Project

The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the teaching of people’s history in classrooms across the USA. 

For more than ten years, the Zinn Education Project has introduced students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula.

Their website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period and grade level. The teaching materials emphasize the role of working people, women, people of color, and organized social movements in shaping history.

(Source About The Zinn Education Project)

https://www.zinnedproject.org/

On Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ZinnEdProject

On Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ZinnEducationProject

Wonderville.org (@wondervilleca)

Wonderville is a MindFuel program. Established in 1990 as Science Alberta Foundation, MindFuel is a registered charitable organization that creates innovative alternatives to traditional learning resources focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

With over 220 interactive games, videos and activities, this online environment is designed to help students learn and teachers teach.

By providing teachers with curriculum-aligned tools and resources, science and math classes suddenly look different. Wonderville’s games and activities are based on real-world problems that ask students to think critically, ask why, and develop inspired solutions.

(Source Wonderville.org)

Visit:

https://wonderville.org/

Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Register of good safeguarding practices

Throughout 2018, we celebrate our diverse cultural heritage across Europe, at EU, national, regional and local level.

Cultural heritage also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. Intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity.

The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage meets annually to evaluate nominations and decide whether or not to inscribe those cultural practices and expressions of intangible heritage on the Convention’s Lists.

By clicking on the link below, you can discover the nominations, photos and videos. 

A very interesting tool for teachers for sensitising young people to the importance of preserving intangible cultural heritage.

https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists

Toy Theater. Language arts

Since 2001 Toy Theater is an online game website for kids, full of interactive art games, reading games, and math games.

Focused on early learners, thesse fun Language Arts activities include word finds, typing, word searches, alphabet doodles, word scrambles, original & classic stories & more.

Visit:

http://toytheater.com/category/language-arts/

Netsafe by @PlanetNutshell

This series produced by Planet Nutshell in collaboration with Utah Education Network explains to kids what the Internet is and many contents related to Internet safety (personal information, ciberbullies, netiquette, sexting, mobile location privacy, public WI-FI network safety...).

The videos are labeled with grade levels.

Visit:

https://planetnutshell.com/netsafe/

Also on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4twzw4BAfFFVS9O4lhru3AWOh06MEAhj

Watch an example:

Factious

Factitious is a game developed by the American University JoLT team to playfully show how to detect fake news.

Visit:

http://factitious.augamestudio.com/#/

SolveMe Puzzles

SolveMe Puzzles is an educational website with a collection of Algebra-related puzzles for children. Three types of puzzles are provided: Mobiles, Who am I and Mistery Grid. They are free and no registration is required. You can create your own puzzles using the Build option.

http://solveme.edc.org/

Word Search Creator

ABCYa.com Word Search Creator is a very useful template to generate word search puzzles in 3 easy steps. First of all, you name the puzzle, then you type or paste up to 15 words and select how you want to play (online or generating a printable document). 

Visit:

http://www.abcya.com/make_a_word_search.htm

Women's Equality Day

Women's Equality Day is celebrated in the United States on August 26 to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. It was first celebrated in 1973 and is proclaimed each year by the United States President. (Source: Wikipedia)

Some resources:

http://www.nwhp.org/resources/commemorations/womens-equality-day/

https://kidskonnect.com/social-studies/womens-equality-day/

https://www.pinterest.es/wisdpisocstu/womens-equality-day-resources-for-teachers/

https://www.depts.ttu.edu/wstudies/events_womensequalityday.php

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/2017/08/25/five-ways-to-teach-womens-equality-day/