Power of Co-Curricular Activities

If you have ever watched the local news in the Raleigh-Durham/Triangle area (on NBC affiliate WNCN), you may have seen a familiar face.  Sean Maroney is a an anchor and reporter, but he is also a 2002 graduate of Asheboro High School.  He recently shared a link on his anchor Facebook page where he wrote about how his participation in the Mock Trial program at AHS prepared him for his current work.  It is an excellent lesson on teamwork in sync with personal accountability and responsibility.  That is also an example of 21st century learning in schools, but not confined to a classroom.  What we do makes a difference...all the time!  Please click here to read his article on ncmocktrial.org.  I urge you to share with students.

~Chandra

NC WiseOwl

NC WiseOwl is a great, FREE resource for students in our state.  NC WiseOwl is far safer and more scholastic than a random Google search. Today, I want to highlight the "Featured Web Sites" section.  This is located in both the Middle School and High School Zones.  This portion of the website houses links that are appropriate for the current month or season.  For example, there are sites on Native American Heritage Month and Thanksgiving.  Click below:
Middle School Zone Featured Websites
High School Zone Featured Websites
Professional Zone Archived Webinars (for educators to learn how to better use NC WiseOwl)

www.ncwiseowl.org

News You Can Use

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across newsela.com.  Currently in beta and free, this site posts news articles appropriate for K-12 students.  I know how many of you have been searching for nonfiction articles to fit your content area, so this is a gold mine!  The categories for the articles are War & Peace, Science, Kids, Money, Law, Health, and Art. Here is the neatest feature:  for every article, there are versions written in different Lexile levels!   I have not played around with the classroom function, but it looks like teachers can also create "classes", register individual students (no student emails required), and assign articles. Some articles have brief comprehension quizzes.  Even if you do not use all those features, it is best to register for the free account.

Below is a screenshot of a newsela.com article at an 1170 Lexile.  Note the blue bar on the right side. When on the actual site, you can simply click on a level and the article adapts in seconds to match the the Lexile you have selected.  If you prefer hardcopy versions, the printer icon is also located in that blue bar.  As you can see beneath the title, the text was originally in the Los Angeles Times, but has been adapted by the Newsela staff.

Here is the same section of the article, but with a 720 Lexile.

I shared this with a some teachers and the feedback has been good.  NAMS sixth grade teacher, Michelle Marsh, mentioned it in an email to me yesterday, which prompted me to share with everyone via the blog. The site adds about three articles daily, so the material is pretty up to date.  I hope more people check it out soon for text sets, Socratic Seminars, summarizing practice, and more...it may not be free forever!

Chandra