As I was adding more article sites into my Google Reader, I decided to add my hometown newspaper. The newspaper will have useful articles about the enviroment throughout the state of Florida. Some of the articles deal with big state issues, like the Everglades to small issues like local county preservations. I have shared some articles for one of my classes from the main website that deals with the issues of a changing enviroment due to the weather or people.
There is an article that talks about the failing grade of the water in the estuaries. As you know, many wildlife live in the estuaries and need the water to survive. Charolotte, Lee and Collier had started grading their estuaries in 2005 and the grade for this year have been needing to improve. The only change they have found were the run offs that are entering into the canals, and the canals flow into the estuaries. Any chemical that enters into one of the connecting canals are most likely entering into the estuaries. I am hoping they create a plan to save the quality of water.
I could use this article for the students to show many types of habitats and wild life preservations. This would give them a wider range of vocabulary and scenarios that their books can't give them. I can show the students what pollution can do to these habitats and preservations and how it can affect any enviroment from miles away. The students can create plans to help save the estuaries from failing and making the wild life ill. They can also create a poster so people can be aware of the problem. I can't wait to start using it as a tool for my classes once testing is over. This will help to bring the issues they may not have here in Georgia, into the classroom.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011102040407
I have also added my hometown newspaper. At first, I was shocked that a small town paper like that even had a web site, much less an RSS feed. And it is great that you have found some educationally helpful articles there. I'm a bit ashamed to say that my hometown paper still publishes mostly family reunion notices, engagements, and funerals. Oh well, it's still nice to keep up with what's been going on in south Georgia.
ReplyDeleteIt must be nice to be able to keep up with your hometown in such a convenient way. I'm from around here so it is pretty easy for me to keep up with the local news, but I imagine it would be difficult to know what is going on back home without this amazing technology.
ReplyDeleteI love how you are using your RSS feed and the news to reach out to your students. Any connections the students can make with the outside world are so important. It sounds like your news source from home publishes some interesting articles that can really be used in education.
I understand the feeling of sadness when confronted with the declining situation of the naturalness of your home town. After the oil spill/Deepwater Horizon mess last spring in the Gulf, my husband and I figured that the commercial fishing in South Louisiana was gonna be nixed and that the beautiful waters we love down there were going to be mucked up forever. RSS keeps me up to date with my hometown news as well, I believe even more so than the local TV news does for my in laws and mom that live there!
ReplyDeleteI think bringing a bit of your past into the classroom is a great way to connect with your kids. By learning about your hometown, they're also learning about you. I think the vocabulary exposure is wonderful and I am glad you pointed it out. Have you considered having your students subsrcibe to RSS feeds about their hometown (or perhaps they're dream hometown)? Maybe if students were reading about locations of interest, we could encourage more reading!
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