"Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day..." - 7 new articles
Today’s New York Times has an article headlined Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries. It’s all about the lack of success efforts are having at convincing Americans to eat more vegetables.
The primary solutions that suggested are to make them more affordable and more available.
As I was reading the article, I was reminded of what a colleague from my community organizing days once told me as he was explaining why he left Alcoholics Anonymous. He liked the twelve step program, but he thought there should be a thirteenth step dealing with the question:
“What about the distillers?”
The Times’ article doesn’t even mention the billions of dollars spent on advertising all the unhealthy food we all eat.
One person quoted in the article says:
“There is nothing you can say that will get people to eat more veggies.”
There may be nothing we can tell people, but we can certainly provide information to students on what goes into certain popular foods and learn about their advertising techniques, and ask thought-provoking questions that could promote reflection. I know, for example, our eleventh grade English teachers use a unit created by the California State University system on fast food. I’m not that clear on its content, but it might be interesting to explore students’ perspectives on fast food prior to studying the unit and then compare it with how they feel afterwards.
Are you familiar with effective curriculum that combines literacy with healthy food choice?
“Oil Well Finally Plugged” is an interactive from The Associated Press.
I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About The Gulf Oil Spill.
I’ve written posts about the importance of students hearing teachers say “I’m sorry” when we mess-up. You can read them at:
I believe hearing an adult make a sincere apology to a student has an impact way beyond the person who was wronged. And an apology to an entire class is also sometimes appropriate.
Earlier this week I apologized to a student after I had questioned him about not turning into an assignment, which I later found in some papers on my desk.
“But teachers never apologize.”
He wasn’t trying to be serious or funny, and was just making an observation out of his personal experience.
It’s difficult for me to believe that it’s that uncommon. I’m sure my colleagues with whom I’m close do it. But it got me wondering: do you apologize to students, and what percentage of your colleagues do you believe do it?
When we use punishment as a key part of our classroom management strategy, read today’s Zits comic strip to see the primary lesson it teaches our students.
There are few people of any age who are not interested in dinosaurs. So, since I’m always interested in trying to identify engaging reading materials for my students, I thought I’d develop this “The Best…” list.
I hope readers will contribute additional suggestions.
Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About Dinosaurs (and are accessible to English Language Learners):
The CBBC has a nice guide to dinosaurs.
Scholastic also has a good feature on dinosaurs.
“Retracing T.Rex’s Family Tree” is an interactive from the Wall Street Journal.
Dinosaurs In Their Time is a PBS slideshow.
What Killed The Dinosaurs? is a PBS site with several interactives.
PBS also has a children’s show called Dinosaur Train, that has good, simple dinosaur materials.
Ology, at the American Museum of Natural History, has a big section on dinosaurs.
Enchanted Learning — Zoom Dinosaurs has resources that are very accessible to English Language Learners.
The Smithsonian, of course, has plenty of dinosaur resources.
Dinosaurs For Kids also has quite a few accessible resources.
Take a Closer Look at Bizarre Dinosaurs comes from National Geographic.
The Reign of Dinosaurs is an interactive timeline from The New Scientist.
The National History Museum also has some good accessible materials.
Feedback and suggestions are welcome.
Here’s my monthly round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted in September (and a couple of late August):
The Best Resources For Learning About Women’s Suffrage — August, 2010
A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Learning Games — August, 2010
The Best Sites For Learning About Hurricanes — August, 2010
The Best Sites For Learning About Polar Bears — September, 2010
The Best Comic Strips For Students & Teachers — 2010 (And Earlier) — September, 2010
The Best “Fun” Sites You Can Use For Learning, Too — 2010 – September, 2010
The Best Sites For Learning About Graphic Recording — September, 2010
The Best Sites For Learning About The Birth Of Lord Krishna — September, 2010
The Best Sites For Learning About Famous Art Thefts — September, 2010
The Best Online Learning Games — 2010 — September, 2010
The Best Rubric Sites (And A Beginning Discussion About Their Use) — September, 2010
The Best Sites For Learning About Yom Kippur – September, 2010
The Best Science Websites — 2010 — September, 2010
Sizing Up The Universe is a neat interactive from the Smithsonian that does a very good job at helping users gain an understanding of how big planets and moons really are.
I’m adding the link to The Best Sites For Learning About Planets & Space.
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