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Great video about posting to social network sites: Probably best to watch with grade 5/6s..

A wonderful new way to research topics. The students type in the subject, the site 'groks' and returns with a concept map that can be made more complex or simple by dragging the green dot (beside the scientist situated at the top of the screen). Finally, a site that differentiates content for students!  The concept map can be expanded by selecting any of the yellow concept dots, and facts, videos, websites, images, etc. can be found on the right side of the screen. A journal tab beside the graph tab allows student to do some writing to record their learning and can be copied into a Google Doc for later reference.   French Revolution, organelles, succession, polynomials, Jane Eyre, composition . . .  this site has much to offer.   The "Quizzes" tools gives you classroom-ready quiz questions on your search term.   Tip: You can use the little slider at the top of the search results screen to adjust how detailed your results are.  You can go from the ABC chalkboard to the Einstein-y looking fella.

Game to help students understand the costs of globalization for child labourers.

 If it Were My Home is a fascinating website that asks students to consider what their life would be like if they were born in a different country.  Would they be the same person?  If it Were My Home is a country comparison tool where students can compare living conditions in their own country to those of another.  When students select a country, there is a visual overlay comparison of maps.  Students can easily visualize relative size of another country based on their own state or country.  Students will also see a break down of death rates, HIV/AIDS, birth rate, electricity availability, oil consumption, economic comparison, health care, and class divide.  Students have the ability to compare the country they selected with another country of interest.  Students can learn additional information about the country and vote to show if they would rather live in the chosen country.  Additionally, most countries offer a recommended reading list with books about the selected country.  When students click on the mini-facts, they get a full description of the fact along with the original source.  K Tenkley

We just completed the second go-round of our global infographics project. It's an opportunity for students to visually represent their research in a way that makes an impact on an audience.  It's a way for them to practice media literacy, data crunching and communication skills. And, combined with their oral presentations, it's a way for us to easily assess students' knowledge surrounding critical global issues.

Amazing virtual access to cultural videos and photos for 42 virtual exhibits!

 The museum's virtual tours are 3D panoramas of the rooms of the museum. As you go through each room you can click on small camera icons to get a closer look at various museum artifacts.

This site uses maps, text and visuals to create timelines. Better suited to division 2 and up, you could use this for Stories of Alberta, Regions of Canada, and it would be a fabulous project for Democracy.

A short video of 2011 in review (more for grade 5/6s) 

Twurdy is search tool that automatically displays the readability of your search results for you. Twurdy uses a simple color-coded system to indicate how easy or difficult it is to read a particular website in your search results. There are three types of Twurdy searches; Just Twurdy, Simple Twurdy, and Twurdy with Pop. Here's how Twurdy defines the three search types: Just Twurdy - searches using Twurdy's basic algorithm with medium speed and medium results.  Simple Twurdy - searches using Twurdy's simple algorithm for fast speed but less accurate results  Twurdy with Pop - searches using Twurdy's most complex algorithm which includes looking up the popularity of words within the text. It has a slower speed with more accurate results. (Richard Byrne)

Alberta Legislature Virtual Visit

Images of buildings in Alberta that reflect the architecture of cultures in India, Ukraine and Tunisia

"How do I create the perfect blog post?" That question by a young student stopped me in my tracks. After all, is there such a thing?  I had to dig deep on this question and turned to the qualities of my favorite bloggers to find some common themes.  They seem to fit for me - leave a comment and let me know how they land on you!