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THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS
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This week, Education World reviewed three Web sites of interest to educators.

The Open Vault
WGBH TV archive 1968-1993 – a gold mine of teachable video clips.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0108-25.shtml

AstronomyExpert
Get star-bright at this site.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0108-23.shtml

Kidipede-History for Kids
History site for middle school students.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0108-21.shtml

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REVIEWS
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The Open Vault
WGBH TV archive 1968-1993 – a gold mine of teachable video clips.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0108-25.shtml

REVIEW: A+
This site is a goldmine of information and resources for teachers and students. A good place to start your exploration would be the “Top Picks” on the Open Vault homepage, and once in a relevant record, further recommendations appear at the left of the page. Each record includes a video description, and when applicable, program and series descriptions. Open Vault includes over 500 streaming video clips and more than 1,000 interviews drawn from public television station WGHB’s programming between 1968 and 1993. Topics range from desegregation and busing, the Cold War, interviews with and performances by leading dancers, writers and poets, and much more. Some highlights include: Muhammad Ali discussing his refusal to fight in Vietnam; African American students arriving at school during Boston's court-ordered de-segregation; Bill T. Jones performing a monologue and solo dance; and Robert McNamara reading from a letter sent by Nikit a Khrushchev to President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The video clips are short, focus on one event, and can be replayed for in-depth analysis, making them a good choice for stimulating classroom discussion.

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AstronomyExpert
Get star-bright at this site.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0108-23.shtml

REVIEW: A
This site provides teachers and students as well as the general surfing public useful and interesting information about celestial objects and phenomena that exist outside the Earth's atmosphere. The articles are grouped into ten categories: Astrobiology, Cosmology, Galaxies, Our Solar System, Small Bodies, Star Watching, The Moon, The P***ts, The Stars, and The Sun. The site hosts over eighty articles and new ones are added each month. Visitors to the site can learn how to find p***ts in other solar systems, how to measure the universe, how orbits work, how big the stars are, how far away they are, and much more. This site would be useful as an introduction for students who are beginning to research some aspect of astronomy for a paper or other homework assignment.

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Kidipede-History for Kids
History site for middle school students.
http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2008/r0108-21.shtml

REVIEW: A+
History for Kids is a good site for students who are doing research for a short class report or working on other homework assignments. It is written in language that is appropriate for middle school students and has lots of visuals to supplement the text. The resources focus mostly on the ancient world and the middle ages and are written by a history professor and other scholars. A page for teachers offers guides for each section of the site as well as other ideas for using the site in the classroom. There is also a page for parents with suggestions for using the site and for craft projects.

Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators."

Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years
This book from Teachers College Press applies the project approach to teaching, which has traditionally been associated with the middle grades, to early childhood education. This can not only energize and focus early childhood lessons, but also lay a foundation for inquisitive thought that students can benefit from for the rest of their school years, even for the rest of their lives.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Teaching Science for Understanding: A Practical Guide for Middle and High School Teachers
We all know that the United States has to "play catch-up" with science and math teaching, compared to other countries, and this book is a serious attempt to contribute positively to that effort. Science may be especially susceptible to passive, direct-instruction styles, and this author instead advocates active, inquiry-based learning. A unique feature of this book is a set of excerpts from popular science textbooks along with suggestions for making the content contained in those books come alive for students.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace.

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The Best of LEARNING GAMES

If you enjoy Education World's weekly LEARNING GAMES feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet of more than 30 of our most popular learning games. PLUS an extra bonus -- ten more games for classroom fun!

These classroom games span the grades and the major subject areas -- and inject a healthy dose of fun into the serious business of teaching and learning. Looking to fill the end of a hectic day with something fun and educational? Looking for a great reward for students that will make valuable use of free time? Looking to reinforce basic skills with a fun activity? These games will fill the bill!

Included in this 80-page booklet you'll find these games and more:

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Meet Our Columnists Experts from many areas of the "education world."
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Classroom Organization Tips Ideas (and photos) that you can easily adapt.
Stress Relief Kit Take a deep breath. Then take a look here.
Classroom Management 101 Real teachers share what they are doing to manage real classrooms.
News for Kids News of our world written with kids in mind. Teacher's Guide included.

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