Map Games, Spanish Class - in Costa Rica!, and Some Good Jersey Learnin'

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Resources

Olympics, Shmolympics!  These Here's Learnin' Games!

If you have to study geography of any kind, in any part of the world, this site offers fun games at every level (complete with audio audience to cheer and say, "Awwww!").  If you noodle around the site using the menu at the top, you'll also find an chemical elements quiz, and a whole list of vocabulary games (scroll down)! 

Forget to Read or Study for a History Test?  

These two sites out of jolly ol' England give you only the most important facts in a very readable style:

• The first covers the shaping of "Modern Europe" from the 16th through the 18th centuries. 
• The second covers the end of the Roman Empire through the Byzantine Empire and beyond. 

I'm not going to lie - the navigation is not the most user-friendly, but the information is valuable, easy to understand, and even INTERESTING!

Tips & Strategies 



Build a House, Save a Turtle - Just Stay off the Couch!

Start thinking about what you'd like to do with yourself this summer.  All of you have to complete some sort of community service-type hours. Consider how (and where!) you'd like to give to a community.  There are all kinds of programs all over the world where you can build community gardens, repair or build houses, work with disadvantaged youth, etc.  Contact me if you're interested in something specific, or just want to brainstorm.  I have a few contacts and resources.  If you're just interested in some foreign fun, though, I did some Spanish training in Costa Rica with these folks, who do a teen Spanish program that looks like an incredible 2 weeks. 

The Bookmarks are In!!!!

The first batch of bookmarks for fiction texts has finally arrived.  When you come in, make sure you take at least one, and use it!  Use it to keep track of characters, deadlines, and "textual evidence," those pesky quotations you can never find when you need them.

News & Research 

Stuck Deciding Between the SAT and the ACT?

“The bright underachievers who are bored and get through school using one quarter of their brains will do better on the SAT, because you just need good reasoning skills for that,” says Mr. White. “And the overachievers . . . will do better on the ACT.”  This NY Times article breaks down the differences in format, skills assessed, student success rates based on student type, etc.

Metacognition - Jersey Style!

"All 428 sixth graders at Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick, N.J., are charting their own academic path with personalized student learning plans — electronic portfolios containing information about their learning styles, interests, skills, career goals and extracurricular activities.  These new learning plans will follow each sixth grader through high school, and are intended to help the students assess their own strengths and weaknesses as well as provide their parents and teachers with a more complete profile beyond grades and test scores."  Very, very cool. 

 

Business Update

• I'm happy to help!  When you send me drafts of writing to review, please let me know what type of feedback you'd like and when the final draft is due.  
• Spring Break is coming soon.  Please let Alexis or me know as soon as possible if and when you will need to cancel or re-schedule sessions.
• Check, read, share, comment on, make requests for this blog!