Women’s History Month: K-12 Learning Activities

By Janet Pinto, Chief Academic Officer, Curriki

For the entire month of March, we recognize women who have made significant contributions to society around the world. When and how did Women’s History Month start?  Who are some notable women?  Here are some great resources to use in the classroom as we celebrate women around the world!

Celebrating National Women’s History Month – This Curriki collection includes resources about great women in U.S. History.

Video Chat: Women at NASA from NASA Explorer Schools – K-12 students across the United States chat with three outstanding women who answer questions about pursuing careers in science and engineering.

Movies for Women’s History Month by the Movie Mom.  This is last year’s list, and includes movies such as A League of Their Own, Following Amelia Earhart: Heroines of the Sky, and Eric Brockovich.

Celebrate Women’s History Month – from The New York Times Learning Network, find lesson plans, crosswords and archival materials as well as links to current Times articles and great web resources. 

Scholastic Tools for Women’s History, including resources and profiles of notable women.

March is Women’s History Month includes lesson plans and more from A-Z Teacher Stuff.

Women’s History – FREE Teaching and Learning Resources from FREE (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence).

Portraits of Women in History from Smithsonian Education, including women inventors, photographs of women in Flickr, and the Seneca Falls Convention.

If you have a favorite resource that’s not listed here, please share!

TOP 10 REASONS TO USE CURRIKI

By Guest Contributor Kathy Duhl, lead reviewer at Curriki

I wanted to share with you my top 10 reasons for using Curriki. Join the OER movement (and make your job easier) by becoming a Curriki member today!

Kathy Duhl

1. It’s FREE!  FREE to join, FREE to take excellent curriculum, FREE to post your best material.
2.  Join the OER movement and be recognized as a forward thinking educator.
3.  Build collections from our repository that you can add to, modify and adapt to the needs of your students.
4.  Help other educators around the world gain access to resources they could not otherwise afford by submitting curriculum you have developed.
5.  Get your curriculum reviewed by content experts.
6.  Start a group at your school or district to collaborate on topics, develop curriculum or document important policies and meetings for future reference.
7.  Engage with other educational groups who have similar interests as you.
8.  Peruse the site and get inspired by amazing units, videos, and full courses. Share the content you find with your colleagues so easily.
9.  Get your collections ready to show future employers your skill and knowledge in implementing 21^st century tools for schools. They will be impressed by how you can save them money!
10.  Don’t have enough STEM material in your classroom?  Run out of new ideas to teach the same content?  Learn from others the value of sharing and being part of a growing community that is committed to equalizing the education divide… one lesson at a time.

Please share this with a colleague and tell us how you use Curriki.

How Do You Use Curriki?

Are you wondering how other teachers use Curriki?  What are some favorite resources that have proven effective in the classroom?  How do schools use Curriki Groups?

Well, the best way is to ask, so we polled a few of our members and asked them to tell us why they joined Curriki.

For example, here’s what Sarah Lornston of Mahtomedi High School had to say:

I joined Curriki because I believe that in teaching, there’s no reason to start from scratch.  See what others are doing and build upon their experience!  Share what you do to help others who may be new teachers or new to a particular curriculum. — Sarah Middlebrook Lornston

See what others have to say.

Are you a Curriki member yet?  Help us meet our membership goal and join today. The more members we have, the stronger our community becomes, and the greater impact we can have on improving student outcomes!

Tell us how Curriki has benefited you (or your students). We’d love to hear from you!

10 Free Earth Day Resources for Teachers (and Parents)

Founded in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day is celebrated each year to promote awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment.  Here are 10 resources to share with students as we recognize Earth Day on Friday, April 22!

1. Find over 300 standards-based lessons, school greening tips, grants for teachers and more from Earth Day Network.
2. 10 Ways to Teach Kids about Earth Day.
3. Celebrate Earth Day with Nortel LearnIT’s environmentally-focused Lesson Plans and Activity Guides for all ages.
4. Earth Day Teacher resources, including lessons, printables, and references to teach your class about our environment and how to preserve our planet from TeacherVision.
5. Earth Day Collection from Curriki.
6. How to Green Your School guide for teachers and students.
7. Help students to create an Earth Day WebQuest or a Project Earth Day WebQuest  to show how we can preserve Earth’s natural resources.
8. Inspire your students to Go Green at Home with this interactive home diagram, including tips for greener living from USA Today.
9. Lesson plan on Learning About Animal Shelters for Earth Day where students explore how to enhance their own school grounds in order to celebrate Earth Day and provide better shelters for local animals.
10. A wide collection of Earth Day activities, projects and videos from Thinkfinity.

Have you discovered other great Earth Day resources?  If so, please share it with the Curriki community by posting a comment below.

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Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons: Baobab tree
from The Field Museum Library