IN THIS ISSUE:

FOR-PD News

• Literacy in Holocaust Education
• FOR-PD's Strategy of the Month
• June Chat
• Summer Plans for 2004
• Reading Endorsement Add-On Programs
• Facilitator Survey
• Where is the Scoring Excel File?
• Summer Help Desk Hours

Monthly FOR-PD Tips

• Dear Felicity
• Share With Us
• Highlighted Book of the Month
• Teacher Created Materials
• Don't Forget Father's Day

Awards, Contests, & Conferences

• Jane Addams Awards Announced
• Region IV FACE Academy
• No Child Left Behind Leadership Summit

Literacy Resources

• Partnership For Reading
• Reading A-Z
• Literature of the Holocaust

Professional Resources

• Online Marketplace - IRA
• Text Analyzer

Facilitator Manual

• Facilitator Manual Link with an Important Update for W-9 Request

Some mandates from the Department of Education go unnoticed due to educators simply not knowing that they exist. This particular piece on Holocaust Education in the state of Florida is to merely share information in an effort to highlight state resources as they relate to curriculum.

Florida Legislation - As stated on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website, in 1994, the Florida Legislature passed the Holocaust Education Bill which amends F.S. 1003.42 of the Florida Statutes (Chapters 94-114, Laws of Florida), relating to required instruction. The bill requires all school districts to incorporate lessons on the Holocaust as a part of the public school curriculum. Did you know that?

The Bill states: "The history of the Holocaust (1933-1945), the systematic, planned annihilation of European Jews and other groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions." The Commissioner of Education created a Task Force on Holocaust Education to serve as an advisory group and to coordinate education activities.

The teaching of the Holocaust to public school children or private school children alike can lend itself to a very "touchy situation." Researching the appropriate way in which to go about it is crucial for delivery of instruction, and utilizing reading/literacy strategies simultaneously can be quite a challenge! Let's take a look at how this can be done to include appropriate leveled content with age appropriate students:

First, let me recommend an introductory link. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provides specific information on educational approaches for this very delicate topic http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/index.php?content=states/. This link gives an online teacher workshop to guide educators into the very specific process on how the topic should be approached and the methodology of delivery. The steps vary from developing the rationale behind the reason to teach the topic, guidelines to teaching it, and topics of concern that may arise.

Next, I would recommend finding appropriate teaching materials to use! Not all Holocaust materials are the horrible images of emaciated bodies walking in a death camp. Quite frankly, younger children may not be able to "stomach" images such as those. Appropriate materials can be found at various locations. Of course, any educator can access the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's "Teaching Materials and Resources" page. Here, you can access a wonderful resource entitled "Teaching about the Holocaust." There is also a version in Spanish! You can download either of these for free! Other resources provided by the USHMM vary from Curricula and Books about Teaching the Holocaust Available in the Museum's Library, Chronology of the Holocaust, and Holocaust Personal Histories to only name a few. But please do not forget the valuable educational trunks that any educator can receive for a short period of time from some of the local Holocaust centers in the state of Florida.

• The Florida Holocaust Museum offers grade appropriate trunks with various teaching resources. This museum is located in St. Petersburg. They have various materials within the trunks such as videos, photos, or classroom sets of books on the topic. The trunk lending period is for one month with this museum.
• The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Central Florida provides trunks to Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, and Volusia. They are located in Maitland (Central Florida). They offer 3 types of teaching trunks, one for elementary, middle, or high school levels.

The trunks from both locations are free of charge and they ship directly to your school for FREE!

There are also some excellent examples of lesson plans for teachers needing a little assistance with verbage or structure at http://www.remember.org/educate/moretta.html. On that same site remember.org there are a great number of educational links on ONE page that make it very "user friendly." There are some specific grade level links provided at history1900.about.com. On this link there are also free downloadable plays that the students can read aloud in the classroom to help with fluency development. Some of the many plays available are entitled "Dr. Yanush Korczak", "The Diary of Anne Frank," and "Dachau".

There are also various workshops, conferences, and summer institutes that are given throughout the summer months for professional development and some of them even go towards re-certification! You can find teacher training at the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center in Maitland here. The Florida Holocaust Museum hosts teacher trainings as well in St. Petersburg.

After you have established the rationale behind the reason for teaching the Holocaust, developed a methodology and collected appropriate teaching materials... do not stop there! Continue the teachings outside of the home and let it build in the community. Bringing the Lessons Home: Holocaust Education for the Community was an idea that was brought forth through the USHMM in 1994 to "bridge the gaps" between those students that knew about the atrocities that could have been prevented in World War II and those that had NO IDEA!

**A word of caution: Please be selective on the materials that you let your students "surf through" on the web with regards to the Holocaust. There is a large amount of information that is presented with bias and disdain towards the various groups involved in the Holocaust. Please be cautious when letting your students "surf."

**And, of course... Avoiding gruesome images due to potentially traumatic impact is a good recommendation. These images are also disrespectful and dehumanizing; therefore, they may not be the most appropriate material for any age student.

Have you taught Holocaust education before? How did you implement literacy into your instruction? If you have any comments or questions about Literacy in Holocaust Education, please feel free to email FOR-PD at fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

In our continuing effort to benefit teachers' needs across the state, FOR-PD has established yet another tool for educators to use. This tool is FOR-PD's Reading Strategy of the Month. Each month we feature an effective reading strategy, explaining the rationale behind the strategy, step-by-step directions on how to use the strategy with students, ideas for assessing the strategy, and, of course, a printable PDF version of the strategy itself that you can share with others and use yourself!

This month we are highlighting the Venn Diagram. Graphic organizers help students construct meaning. The Venn diagram contributes to keeping students actively involved. It is a simple graphic organizer. It allows students to help structure the way they “think” about the similarities and differences between concepts. They work best when the students complete them, instead of having the teacher do it for them.

In last month's strategy, we highlighted the Anticipation Guide as a detailed activity that uses prediction in order to make a connection to comprehension.

Let us know what you think about the monthly strategy. Are there any that you would like to see highlighted next? Email us at fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

• Discovering American Memory Workshop: http://memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/workshop/discover/index.html
• What Do You See? http://memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/workshop/discover/yousee.html
• What Do You Hear? http://memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/workshop/discover/hear.html
• How Does It Read? http://memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/workshop/discover/read.html

  And for more resources on the Library of Congress website, please visit http://www.loc.gov/, you will really enjoy it!

• Be prepared by reading and preparing questions in advance
• Be in the right room and be on time
• Download, read, and follow a chat protocol for applicable symbols that could lead to easier viewing

FOR-PD continued to hold open enrollment for the third and final timeline of the Summer 2004 semester running from June 28 - August 13. We have had over 250 participants register for that time period alone, and registration doesn't close until June 18th! So, if you know of any other educators in Florida that are interested in still signing up for the Summer 2004 FOR-PD course, please direct them to our online registration page at http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/register/register.html. For those of you not participating or facilitating in our summer courses, please ENJOY the summer break! It's well deserved!

At FOR-PD, we value your input. Please take a few moments to reflect on the course and your role as a facilitator. Let us know about the experience you and your participants shared. We want to hear the good news, along with the bad, so please let us hear about your success stories and your hassles. We want to smooth out the rough spots in the course and you are our best source of information. If you think of a great tip or technique to be addressed for other facilitators, please let us know. You can email your comments to forpdfac@mail.ucf.edu.

Before we process your payment, we will ask you to complete a brief online survey to help us evaluate the course and its effectiveness. Please complete the survey located in the Facilitator Only Board at your earliest convenience.

We have to have your input! Please help us out.

Dear Felicity,

I was looking at my grades this morning, and it does not show that I took the pre-course survey. Should I be concerned? Should I retake it? Can you please advise me as to handle this problem.

Appreciate your help,

Waunna Tesst

Dear Waunna,

Rest assured that there is nothing wrong with the survey. FOR-PD constantly tries to make improvements with the course, not only with content, but also with the quizzes and surveys.

We have redesigned the course survey to be more streamlined with Florida standards and objectives for the course. Unfortunately, we had to use another software platform called "Dragon." Dragon does not "talk" to WebCT (our course delivery tool). Therefore, when the participants take the pre/post course surveys they will not receive a grade on their grade sheet. It may be beneficial to actually remove those areas from your gradebook from now on, so that you do not become confused looking for grade placements.

As a facilitator, we ask you to strongly encourage teachers to finish it as it is part of the course requirements. Do not hold back "passing" your participants because you do not see a grade for the pre/post course surveys in the gradebook. If your section is finished, please send those names over to us at forpd@itrc.ucf.edu.

I hope this helps some of you that have been confused about the surveys.

Sincerely,
Felicity

Send us your classroom reading success stories and FOR-PD reading strategies you have been implementing. Do you have any "funny" stories from your FOR-PD classes? Send your contributions to fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

Izzy Sanabria (Seminole County) shares with us an event that he planned due to FOR-PD course:

"In order to promote summer reading and to show our commitment for literacy learning, I arranged the 3rd Annual Great Book Exchange between the weeks of April 26- May 7th 2004. We know that teachers are all super busy this time of year, but it is our hope that in successfully completing this project we will encourage our students and families to read over the summer.

In our homeroom classes, we will try to collect as many books as we can. We try encouraging students to bring in books that they have already read. We sent donation bags to aid in the collection. Books can be children’s books, young adult books, nonfiction, and even books for older students and adults (no adult romances).

During the week, students passed by to collect and keep track of how many books each class donated. Whichever class had the most books in by May 7th received a "Books and Breakfast party" during our homeroom class on the day the teacher chose.

Also, because we know that an educator's encouraging words do help, we threw in a $25.00 gift certificate from a teacher supply store in Deland to the winning teacher. On Wednesday evening, May 12th, between 5-7 p.m., all Sanford Middle School students and their families were invited to the Media Center, where they could pick and choose from the nearly 4,000 donated books and bring them home." Now, isn't that neat?

Denise Sutherland (Palm Beach) compliments our assessment component with FOR-PD:

"I really like the idea of rubrics, especially for an on-line course, because a student has a guide to exactly what is expected. I used to use them in my Spanish classes too, for oral presentations. At first the kids thought I was weird to include them in on creating a rubric and using it to grade their peers, but after a while they warmed up to it.

Thank you again and again for this class. I am so glad I chose this class- I only needed 17 points to complete my recertification, but I knew the extra time and effort for this course would be worth more than any points could give."

Lourdes Smith (UCF) provided us with some thoughts on how well her online office hours are working out.

"For this session I wanted to interact with my students a little more so I have office hours from 7 to 9 P.M. on Monday nights. We meet in one of the chat rooms within the WebCT program, usually room 1. The students who have been coming into the chat room discuss some of the new ideas they have learned in the class. Others ask questions about quizzes and content. One comment that came up recently was on how much they enjoyed the scenario questions. 'It really made me put myself in that teacher's place,' said the student. Most of my assignments are due on Monday nights so being available for immediate feedback has been helpful to my students."

If any of you have an interesting way of working with a tool or concept for the course, please share those ideas with us at fff@orion.itrc.ucf.edu.

 

FOR-PD would like to begin highlighting books each month that offer the educator a little extra something for delivery and the student a little extra something to learn. This month's first highlighted book is Where Is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox and popular Australian cartoonist Judy Horacek.

Mem Fox is the author of many celebrated books, including The Magic Hat, Koala Lou, Time for Bed, and, for adults, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia.

Judy Horachek is the creator of the cartoons in Mem Fox's Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She also writes and illustrates books of her own and creates cartoons that are featured regularly in national magazines and newspapers in Australia. She lives in Dickson, Australia.

The grade level of Where Is the Green Sheep is from Preschool - Grade 1. It contains basic vocabulary and uses repetition of an easy-to-read rhyme.

Many times we teachers happen upon information in our "mailbox" at school that is always a neat addition to the pile that tends to accumulate on our desk or on top of our file cabinet. One item that Dr. Zygouris-Coe brought back to my memory was those nifty little monthly calendars that are full of interesting facts of the month. You can download the June calendar from Teacher Created Materials, Inc. with such facts as Dinosaur Day June 2, First U.S. Book Copyrighted June 9, 1790, Flag Day June 14, and the "Happy Birthday to You" song published June 27, 1924. It's also Aquarium Month!

You can also check out the Teacher Created Materials, Inc. homepage to view other online free products such as lesson plans, activities, and professional development ideas. They also provide a monthly teaching tip. This month they focus on tips for Test-Taking Skills.

June 20th marks the day in America when Fathers are honored for being who they are: Dad, Daddy, Pop, PaPa, etc. Do you know where the idea for Father's Day came from?

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, was one of the first people who had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

Even before Dodd, however, the idea of observing a day in honor of fathers was promoted. Dr. Robert Webb conducted what is believed as the first Father's Day service at the Central Church of Fairmont, West Virginia in 1908. It was Dodd's efforts, however, that eventually led to a national observance. President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. Since the inception of the holiday, Father's Day has been expanded to include uncles, stepfathers, older brothers, and any other men who act in a "fatherly" capacity.

So, to all of you fathers out there, FOR-PD wishes you a wonderful day in honor of YOU!

Winners of the 2003 Jane Addams Children's Book Awards were announced on April 28 by the Jane Addams Peace Association. Organized on that date in 1915, Jane Addams Peace Association (JAPA) funds much of the educational work of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

Since 1953, the Jane Addams Children's Book Awards annually acknowledge books published during the previous year in the U.S.  Books chosen for the Awards effectively address themes or topics that promote peace, social justice, world community, and/or equality of the sexes and all races. The books must also meet conventional standards of literary and artistic excellence.

In addition to the Jane Addams Children's Book Awards and its many other educational projects, JAPA houses the U.N. office of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in New York City. JAPA owns the Jane Addams House in Philadelphia where the U. S. section of WILPF is located.

For a list of the complete winners please visit www.janeaddamspeace.org.

Keynote Speaker: Deb Singer recently recognized as the ISTE Affiliate Outstanding Teacher for 2003 and FACE State Outstanding Technology Using Educator for 2003.
       
Deb Singer not only represents the finest in technology using educators, she represents the finest in educators who pioneer and promote technology.  From curriculum development to classroom innovation, she is recognized both nationally and internationally. Her extraordinary commitment to the community and her students is enormous. 

Ms. Singer is a teacher and leader at Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH), a magnet school in the Miami-Dade County Public School system. She is a Consultant for Apple Computer. She represents Florida as a Master Teacher for the NASA Classroom of the Future. She is also an Advisory Board member for the National Self-Defense Institute. 

Ms. Singer is a curriculum writer, presenter, trainer, and teacher/advisor for a variety of technology topics, from industrial design to multimedia to 3D animation. She has been recognized by local and multinational media including PC Magazine, National Public Radio (NPR), Billboard Magazine, Macromedia Inc., Apple Computer, Inc., the Miami Herald, and the Sun Sentinel.

Date: 7/20/04 - Time: 8:00-4:00  Winter Park High School, 2100 Summerfield Road, Orlando, FL 32792
Registration Fee (includes membership and lunch)...   $25.00
Face members are free!

Make checks payable to: Orange County FACE. 

Send application and payment or P.O. by June 25th
To:  Lisa Connelly, President
15133 Sugargrove Way
If using OCPS P.O. Vendor is:  Face-Orange County -Vendor # 115881

"Refund Policy: If requested to Lisa Connelly (lisa32825@clf.rr.com) by 5:00 p.m. July 1, 2004 full refund will be made. After that no refunds will be available."

Schedule subject to change without notice
Schedule – onsite registration begins at 8:00 a.m.

E-Mail:  Lisa Connelly

Recently, early, online registration for the No Child Left Behind Leadership Summit on Increasing Options Through e-Learning has been opened.

The event is scheduled for July 12-13, 2004 at The Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center. As quoted from the website, "this conference will ask leaders to explore virtual education distance learning, virtual schools and other online education courses as a powerful technology innovation expanding opportunities for learning any time, any place in support of NCLB".

For more information you can visit the site at: http://www.nclbtechsummits.org/summit2/summit2.asp

Registration information can be found at: http://www.nclbtechsummits.org/summit2/s2-Register.asp

"Florida has been a leader in implementing a wide array of school choice options and will work with school districts to provide parents meaningful choice, and I encourage all parents to use the resources available to understand the progress Florida's schools and students have made over the past six years." Commissioner Jim Horne

The Partnership for Reading offers information about the effective teaching of reading for children, adolescents, and adults based on the evidence from quality research. The Partnership invites you to explore this site for information on the research, principles about reading instruction suggested by the research, and products for parents, teachers, administrators, and policy-makers. I was especially impressed with their information on reading instruction. It was precise and to the point without going into large vocabulary that some do not understand.

I know FOR-PD has mentioned this one before; however, before the start of the new year you may be interested in beginning the year with some new materials. Reading A-Z.com is offering many free downloadable materials to teach guided reading, phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, and comprehension. You can even take a short tour through the site at http://www.readinga-z.com/newfiles/preview.html and receive a free book! Check this one out!

For an excellent resource on Literature of the Holocaust visit this site from the University of Pennsylvania. They have a very easy search engine to look for various topics of interest or an alphabetical list to pick by letter. The site holds links to such as Buchenwald Photos, The Anne Frank House, and Stephen Spielberg faces the Holocaust for a few examples.

Have you ever wondered where you can find the perfect book for student reading comprehension or books to offer to parents in assisting their children during homework time at the house? The International Reading Association provides a wonderful online resource for books and brochures on various issues presented in the classroom at the Online Marketplace. Check it out!

Textalyzer is not only for the language arts and reading teachers in the world. This is a site to help calculate readability, word count, etc. It also analyzes URL addresses for those of you interested in analyzing web pages. It is available in French and English, so for those of you who are in need of a French language text analyzer this is a bonus. A useful tool for teachers and for those student writers that need a little more assistance.

Don't forget! The facilitator manual with many added goodies and those much needed "life savers" is available for your convenience online at /facilitators/manual.html

VERY IMPORTANT ADDITION! Due to new UCF requirements, we must have a W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification on file in order to process your facilitator payments. You will only need to fill out this form and fax it to us one time. You should have received a copy of the form in an attachment of an email sent on April 1. You may fax it to our office at 407-207-4965. If you need a copy of the W-9 Request form, please email us at forpdfac@mail.ucf.edu. In the future, we will not be able to process your facilitator payments unless we have this form on file.

 

Return to the FOR-PD Home Page
Last updated June 3, 2004
Contact us at forpd@mail.ucf.edu

A project of the Instructional Technology Resource Center at the University of Central Florida.
Funded by the Florida Department of Education and Just Read Florida!