The FAPE Site

Flight - Celebrating the First 100 Years

Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk

It's been described as the "12 seconds that changed the world."  The Wright Brothers forever changed human travel at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903, with their heavier-than-air powered flight, which traveled 120 feet.  We celebrated 100 years of flight on December 17, 2003. 

Learn more about the Wright brothers' historic flight with these NEA-recommended online resources.

Smithsonian Institution: Original Correspondence of Wright Brothers
Maintained by the Smithsonian Institute are original documents written by the Wright Brothers to officials at the Smithsonian Institution asking for information to further their interest in flight.  This page also has a link to lesson plans on using Primary Source Documents in classes.
http://www.si.edu/archives/documents/wright.htm#documents

Library of Congress: The Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers at the Library of Congress
An amazing collection of Wright Brothers papers and photographs has been scanned for use in the classroom on this site.  The brothers took many of the photographs as a scientific method of documenting their work.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wrighthtml/wrighthome.html  

NASA Quest: Centennial of Flight Aero Expo IV
Join NASA scientists for several web chats related to the centennial celebration of Flight.  On Wednesday, December 10, 2 one-hour webcasts will take place-"Look back in time and relive the last 100 years of flight in this visit with the Wright Brothers. Talk about the future of flight and what part you might play in it."  Join 300 students live from the NASA Ames Research Center Auditorium to celebrate 100 years of manned powered flight. Wilbur and Orville made their first flight on December 17, 1903.  Read the transcript of a previous web chat with members of the Tuskegee Airmen.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/aero/centennial/

Educator's Flight Plan: US Centennial of Flight Commission
This site has separate parts for educators and children.  After you check out the educator's site, which has numerous links to help in planning a flight unit, go to the "kids" site.  There is information about women in flight and also many short (3-7min.) video clips explaining the design and flying of the Wright Brothers gliders.  The explanation of the science behind flight and the scientific process that the Brothers used in their experiments are illustrated in the short clips.  Each clip is accessible and has subtitles for hard of hearing or deaf children.
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/user/edu.htm

Re-Living the Wright Way
This site has lesson plans, java applets that help with simulations of the gliders' moves, and activities that include how to build the Wright's 1902 glider. PowerPoint presentations on a number of topics (some by students and some by NASA scientists) can be downloaded and used in the classroom. (The Glenn Research Center)
http://wright.nasa.gov/

Aeronautics Kidspage
This Web site is designed to help children learn aeronautics. Lesson plans on the history and propulsion of airplanes are provided.
http://www.ueet.nasa.gov/StudentSite/

Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics
Just how do airplanes fly? What keeps them in the air? All your questions will be answered. The site provides background content needed to teach a unit or lesson.
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bga.html

PlaneMath
This interactive Web site connects mathematics to aeronautics. Each lesson features a person with a disability who works in some area of the aeronautics field.
http://www.planemath.com/

Getting Ready for School

Tips, information, and other resources to help you prepare for the new school year.

Whether you're new to the job or a seasoned veteran, getting back to school can be a bit nerve-wracking. It's time to throw out stale teaching ideas, put a fresh face on your classroom, and start the school year with a bang.


Getting Ready for the First Day

• 13 Ways to Beat the First-Day Jitters
  
  
• 33 Ways to Start the First Year
  
  
• Help for Parents - Getting involved in your child's education

Lesson Planning

• The Art of the WebQuest shows you how to identify and create great online activities for students.
  
  
• Support your curriculum planning with the best Lesson Plans and Educational Materials and Virtual Museums available on the Internet.
   

Classroom Management

• Create an Atmosphere for Learning, using three components of classroom management.
  
  
• Build A Classroom Community and Bully-Free Zone (on the "It's My Life" Web site from PBS) with teaching ideas for grades 3-7.
  
  
• Order in the Classroom! - Classroom Management Resources for maintaining discipline. 
   

Career Development

• An action guide for education support professionals (ESP) examines Professional Development.
  
  
• An article for teachers looks at Earning National Board Certification.

Gifted & Talented Resources

The gifted and talented resources below include Web sites, organizations and programs, articles, and materials for purchase.

Web Sites

Hoagies' Gifted Education Page
This Web site offers resources, articles, books, and links for educators,  parents, counselors, administrators, and other professionals and for kids and teens.
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org 

Odyssey of the Mind
This creative, team problem-solving competition that has three levels of competition -- local, state, and world -- where teams from around the world get together to compete.
http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/

GT-Cybersource
This site offers a searchable database of resources for gifted students, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. From the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.
http://www.gt-cybersource.org/

Enriched and Innovative Instruction
This site includes information on differentiation, science, mathematics, arts, and other aspects of teaching, from Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland).
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/enriched/

Organizations & Programs

Center for Talented Youth
This Johns Hopkins University program identifies America's top academic students in grades two through eight and provides challenging educational programs through their tenth grade year.
http://www.cty.jhu.edu/

Talent Identification Program
The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) identifies gifted children and provides resources to nurture the development of these exceptionally bright youngsters. Programs are available for students, families, and educators.
http://www.tip.duke.edu/

The Council for Exceptional Children
The Council is the largest international professional organization specifically dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted.
http://www.cec.sped.org/

National Association of Gifted Children
This nonprofit organization is for parents, teachers, educators, other professionals and community leaders addressing the unique needs of children with demonstrated gifts and talents.  
http://www.nagc.org/ 

Programs for Gifted Students with Learning Disabilities (GT/LD)
This site provides goals of for programs, characteristics of GTLD students, articles and Web sites, best practices, and other useful information, from Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland).
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/enriched/gtld/

Articles

An Appropriate Education: Challenging and Nurturing a Gifted Child
Maryland teacher Gary Wilson writes about his experiences as the father of a gifted daughter and about his belief that parents, teachers, and policy makers can be doing much more to provide an appropriate education to gifted children.
www.nea.org/teachexperience/gifk030609.html

Counseling Gifted and Talented Students
Nicholas Colangelo, University of Iowa, discusses the social-emotional issues confronting gifted students and provides insights based on a synthesis of research and his own work over the past thirty years. He describes changes in self-concept in the gifted student throughout the school years, vulnerabilities that can hamper cognitive and affective development, family counseling, transition from high school to college and career, and counseling in schools. (Fall 2002)
http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~nrcgt/news/fall02/fall022.html

Distinguishing Myths From Realities
A self-test (with answers) on what the research says about gifted and talented children. Findings are from the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented -- the NRC/GT 1998 Winter Newsletter.
http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~nrcgt/news/winter98/wintr983.html

Gifted Kids: What Smart Parents Need to Know
An article by Andrea Barbalich and Linda Marsa, published on Child.com. Reprinted from the March 2001 issue of Child Magazine.
http://www.child.com/child/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/child/story/data/gifted_kids.xml

The Identification of Children Who Are Gifted
In this article, Mary Ruth Coleman describes the process that helps ensure that students who need gifted education are recognized and matched with appropriate services so that they can thrive in school. ERIC EC Digest #E644 (June 2003).
http://ericec.org/digests/e644.html

Raising "Will Hunting" - 10 Tips for Parenting Gifted and Talented Children
Hilaria Bauer lists the 10 recommendations for parents in both English and Spanish. The article originally appeared in the IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association.
http://www.idra.org/Newslttr/1998/Jun/Hilaria.htm

Materials for Purchase

Great Potential Press Incorporated
Materials for sale from publisher of gifted publications. Books and materials, based on research and life experience, to guide parents and teachers through the world of giftedness.
http://www.giftedbooks.com

Prufrock Press
Gifted education resources for teaching and parenting gifted children.
http://www.prufrock.com
  
PuzzlersParadise
Challenging and fun puzzles for puzzle enthusiasts of all ages.
http://www.puzzlersparadise.com

BrainBashers
A collection of brain teasers, puzzles, riddles, games and optical illusions.
http://www.brainbashers.com

Puzzles.com
Puzzles to play, puzzle projects, and puzzle links.
http://www.puzzles.com

Updated May 2007.

Glossaries of Education Terms

Ever need a quick definition of an education term -- like Carnegie unit, cognates, continuing education, credit hour, or curriculum frameworks ?

Then you'll want to bookmark these five online education glossaries -- from ASCD, NCELA, World Education Services, The Common Data Set Initiative, and EdSource Online. Check out the sample definitions below and then click to their Web sites for more.

Carnegie unit -- A measurement used in most high schools to determine how much coursework a student has completed. Students usually need at least 20 Carnegie units to graduate; one unit is equal to a conventional 50-minute class taken five times per week throughout the school year. A one-semester course is worth one-half of a Carnegie unit.

The units were established and promoted 100 years ago by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Today, many educators involved in school reform oppose the use of Carnegie units, arguing that "seat time" is not necessarily a measure of learning.

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), an international, nonprofit, nonpartisan association of professional educators whose jobs cross all grade levels and subject areas.

Cognates -- Words in different languages related to the same root, e.g., education (English), educación (Spanish).

The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA), funded by the U.S. Department of Education to collect, analyze, and disseminate information relating to the effective education of linguistically and culturally diverse learners in the United States.

Continuing education -- Educational programs offered by colleges and universities to adults in the community during the evening and on weekends. It usually refers to non-credit course work.

World Education Services promotes and facilitates the understanding of educational qualifications through the collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of information about educational systems throughout the world.

Credit hour -- A unit of measure representing an hour (50 minutes) of instruction over a 15-week period in a semester or trimester system or a 10-week period in a quarter system. It is applied toward the total number of hours needed for completing the requirements of a degree, diploma, certificate, or other formal award.

Common Data Set of U.S. Higher Education Terminology  is a glossary of higher education terms from The Common Data Set Initiative, a collaborative effort between publishers and the educational community.

Curriculum frameworks -- The blueprint for schools to use to implement the state-adopted content standards. In California, State Curriculum Frameworks are developed by the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, an advisory group, and adopted by the State Board of Education.

EdSource Online, an independent, impartial, not-for-profit organization, whose mission is to clarify complex education issues and to promote thoughtful decisions about public school improvement.

Health, Safety, & P.E. Lesson Plans & Resources

Here are some lesson plans, articles, and Web sites about health, safety, and physical education.

Education World: Health & Safety
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/archives/health.shtml
From bullying to diversity, from nutrition to substance abuse, this site offers dozens of lessons for all grade levels.  Plus, find access to many more lessons submitted by trained and practicing teachers just like you.

HIV/AIDS Educational Materials
http://www.avert.org/lessons.htm
AVERT, an international charity, offers a number of activities that can be used to educate young people about HIV infection and AIDS.

PBS TeacherSource: Health & Fitness
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/health.htm
Use the pull down menus in the center of the page for access to hundreds of curriculum resources for grades PreK-12.  Lessons are based upon PBS's on-air and online programming.  Most lessons incorporate the use of video, but do not require it.  You will also find access to dozens of recommended health and fitness web sites and books.

P.E. Central
http://www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/pelessonplans.html
At P.E. Central you'll find scores of lesson plans that are developmentally appropriate, measured against national standards, and organized by topic and grade level. The site also includes tips to improve student motor skills and athletic performance, health lesson plans, and a checklist you can use to determine which activities are most appropriate for students in your classes.

HEALTH/PHYSICAL EDUCATION ARTICLES

The New Physical Education: Increasing Physical Activity Promotes Healthy Lives
This ASCD article describes the numerous health benefits of regular physical activity -- from leaner bodies and lower blood pressure to improved mental health and cognitive functioning.
http://www.nea.org/teachexperience/hlthk040627.html  

Partnerships to Keep Students Healthy: A Coordinated Health Program
This ASCD article describes how a school or district can develop a coordinated health program.  "Implementation may be less difficult, and more necessary, than you think."
http://www.nea.org/teachexperience/hlthk031218.html

HealthyNews
http://www.healthy.net/Library/News/index.asp
This news portal for health and medicine includes an email newsletter, MedLine Search function, conditions directory, online shopping, and other resources for teachers promoting healthy lifestyles.

WEB SITES

Nickelodeon Talk: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs
http://www.nick.com/all_nick/everything_nick/kaiser/drugs_2.html
Part of the Talking With Kids About Tough Issues series, this resource includes a free brochure. A useful site for parents.

Safety City
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/kids/
Vince and Larry, crash test dummies, take you for a tour of Safety City. Take the Safety Challenge, create some artwork, and learn about seat belt and child seat safety. Special highlights are the research lab where crash tests are explained, bike and school bus safety, and the EMS (Emergency Medical Services) page. The Teachers' Lounge has lesson plans and coloring pages.
 

Related Document

Lesson Plans & Educational Materials