If you want to give digital storytelling a whirl, check out VoiceThread — a site that helps your students create multimedia slide shows that can include narrative, still images, video, and music. And the beauty of VoiceThread as a collaborative classroom tool is that once a student shares a VoiceThread with the class, other students' comments are then incorporated into the VoiceThread presentation as well.

November is a great month to steep your students in historical "primary" documents. You could have students read President Wilson’s 14 points in anticipation of Armistice Day (November 11th, now called Veteran’s Day) and the Gettysburg Address to commemorate Lincoln’s famous speech which was delivered on November 19th, 1863.  Continue reading...

This year, don't just Google it, Google Scholar it! When students are in search of reliable sources for their research, have them visit Google Scholar to find articles, books, and court opinions on an endless number of topics. Start searching here.

If you are wondering how to approach 9/11 in your classroom, turn to one of these excellent news sites for educators:

• The New York Times Learning Network: Teaching and Learning About 9/11 With The New York Times
  
  
• PBS NewsHour Extra: Youth Remember 9/11

Here are a few summer programs that provide incentives for students who reach their reading goals.  Continue reading...

Figment is an online community for teens and young-adults to create, discover, and share new reading and writing. Figment enables its users to read amateur and professional content and create their own unfiltered creative writing to share with their peers on web and mobile networks. Since launching in December, Figment has more than 35,000 registered users and more than 75,000 individual pieces of writing. Check it out here!