Increase Investments in Education
Wells Fargo supports educational programs that promote academic achievement for low- to moderate-income preK–12 students in math and science, literacy and history of the American West. Eligible applicants include educational institutions and nonprofits located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Grants are also considered for professional development programs and programs that encourage school partnerships with parents, the business community or the community in which the school is located.
Deadline: Rolling
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Personalize Students’ Literacy Environment
Capstone Digital recently announced its CARE (Capstone Assisting Remarkable Educators) initiative, a $2 million grant program focused on improving literacy in schools. As a result of the massive cuts in federal funding, including the Improving Literacy through School Libraries Program, schools across the country are invited to apply for $2 million in matching CARE grants toward the purchase of myON reader, a personalized literacy environment that focuses on increasing student literacy rates. The application is available on the initiative’s Web site.
Deadline: May 31, 2011
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Encourage Inclusion and Maximize Potential
The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation Grants Program is dedicated to helping young Americans with disabilities maximize their potential and fully participate in society. The foundation supports organizations and projects within its mission that have broad scope and impact and demonstrate potential for replication at other sites. A major program emphasis is inclusion: enabling young people with disabilities to have full access to educational, vocational and recreational opportunities, and to participate alongside their nondisabled peers. Amounts vary based on the nature of the project/organization and the duration of proposed activities.
Deadline: Concept papers accepted throughout the year, but must be submitted by June 1, 2011 for funding the following January
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Get Ready for the Heat
To put a plug in the summer brain drain, Tabula Digita is hosting the U Games Summer Challenge, an online educational video game tournament. The competition consists of five rounds of virtual play, each lasting two weeks. Students in grades 3–8 can enter the nationwide virtual tournament. Once registered, students compete against their peers across the country, while reinforcing their understanding of fractions and complex equations, or reviewing parts of speech and language conventions. (This year the game-based learning solution features two game selections: DimensionM, a cache of lessons that offer students an opportunity to master more than 200 math skills, and DimensionL, the latest immersive game that gives students a way to practice more than 200 essential literacy skills.) Student players can join the free competition at any time during the 10-week event, even if they did not participate in an earlier round. They can play one of four missions—either in the multiplayer format or by themselves. Scores are computed based on game-play skills as well as on strategy, academic performance and immediate “need-to-know-the-answer” outcomes. All players will be competing for a chance to win gift cards and summer-related prizes; five players will randomly be selected to win an iPod Nano. Also new this year is a social networking component, which encourages students to build online “learning communities” comprised of friends, family, community members or even their teachers ... anyone who wants to help support the child’s academic efforts in the games during the summer. Participants who earn the highest number of social network points in each tournament round will win prizes separate from those awarded for game-play performance.
Deadline: Competition runs from May 30, 2011 through August 7, 2011
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Showcase Your School–Parent Connection
PTO Today’s Parent Group of the Year Contest is an opportunity to showcase hard work while giving a school the chance to win cash and prizes. All parent groups—PTO, PTA, HSA, PTC and others; public and private schools; rural, suburban and urban schools—are eligible to participate in the contest. Choose from eight categories, including Outstanding Family Event, Outstanding Community Service Project and Outstanding New Group, to automatically be considered for the grand prize: $3,000, plus a free DIRECTV system for the school, installed in up to eight rooms (valued at $3,500). The runner-up will receive $1,000, plus a free DIRECTV system for the school, installed in up to eight rooms. Plus, winners in each of the eight categories will receive $500.
Deadline: June 1, 2011
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Instill a Love of Nature
To honor the late preservationist and ecologist Rachel Carson, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Generations United and the Rachel Carson Council are holding a photo, essay and poetry contest “that best expresses the Sense of Wonder that you feel for the sea, the night sky, forests, birds, wildlife and all that is beautiful to your eyes.” In her book The Sense of Wonder (written in the 1950s and published in a magazine in 1956), Carson used lyrical passages about the beauty of nature and the joy of helping children develop a sense of wonder and love of nature. Winning entries will be published on the Web sites of EPA Aging Initiative, Generations United and Rachel Carson Council. Entries must be joint projects involving a person under age 18 and a person age 50 or older.
Deadline: June 10, 2011
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Portray a Historical Character
Interested K–12 students are invited to enter Samsung Techwin America’s Superhero video competition by creating a digital video of one to three minutes in length, portraying a historical character. Students will be judged on presentation performance, character and content accuracy, and content quality. Competitions take place in both the spring and the fall. One student winner will be selected per competition and will receive $500. In addition, a SAMCAM 860 document camera will be given to the student's class. The MSRP of the Samsung SAMCAM 860 is $799.
Deadlines: Spring competition entries due June 17, 2011; autumn competition entries due September 23, 2011
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Explore Environmental Health Questions
Is your tuna sandwich high in mercury content? How does the West Nile Virus illustrate the connection between animal and human illness? Are environmental toxins contributing to health problems in your area? This spring students in grades 6–12 across the country will have the opportunity to explore these and other environmental health questions with the launch of the Environmental Public Health (EPH) collection, a new set of resources presented by WGBH Boston’s Teachers’ Domain. The EPH collection draws from highly respected public media sources, such as NOVA and FRONTLINE, as well as other public organizations, such as the National Library of Medicine and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Online assets available to classrooms include video clips and interactives supported by background essays, discussion questions, teaching tips and related resources. The content is aligned with state and national standards as applicable. The EPH collection currently includes 32 published resources, with plans to expand to 60 by the end of May 2011.
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Improve Writing and Thinking Skills
Webspiration Classroom allows students in grades 5–12 to create concept maps—diagrams showing the relationships between particular concepts—on a computer screen and select the program’s “collaborate” feature to share their work with classmates. The program also allows teachers to provide feedback on students’ work. Sign up online for a free 30-day trial.
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Plus: Enter the Webspiration Classroom Giveaway on Facebook for a chance to win a one-year individual educator subscription to the Webspiration Classroom service.
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Engage in Problem Solving Through Science
The Smithsonian Institution and MIT VANISHED is an eight-week online/offline environmental disaster mystery game for middle-school children, meant to inspire engagement and problem solving through science. Developed by MIT’s Education Arcade and the Smithsonian Institution, VANISHED encourages participants to investigate an environmental disaster by using real scientific methods, by visiting museums and collecting samples from their neighborhoods and by participating in online challenges. Participation in VANISHED is free.
Click Here to Participate in Free Game

Make Learning Visual
VizZle, the Web-based visual learning software for autism and special needs produced by Monarch Teaching Technologies, has launched the VizZle Classroom Edition, featuring a new Mobile Player. The VizZle Classroom Edition includes three additional student player licenses with every teacher license and is now mobile tablet compatible. Teachers can select which type of technology best meets a student’s learning style—interactive whiteboard, desktop or laptop and now even a mobile tablet. VizZle offers more than 15,000 pieces of media and 4,000 peer-reviewed lessons to help foster independent learning, and it tracks student performance against IEP goals. Sign up online for a free trial of the new VizZle Classroom Edition.
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Tap the Picture, Hear the Word
TapToTalk, a free app, turns the iPad, iPhone or Android into an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. Children who have a difficult time with speaking can use the application to tap on a picture, and the mobile device will say the word.
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Navigate Unknown Environments
Another free app called Model Me Going Places is a visual teaching tool for helping children learn to navigate challenging locations in the community. Each location contains a photo slideshow of children modeling appropriate behavior. The places include the hair salon, mall, doctor, playground, grocery store and restaurant. The tool is especially useful for autistic students, who often become apprehensive about unknown environments.
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Make Books Accessible
Using Read2Go, an app for Bookshare, individuals and schools supporting students can search, download and read Bookshare books and periodicals and manage their books in a bookshelf. They can then read the material using adaptive technology, typically software that reads the book aloud and displays the text of the book on a computer screen. In addition, Read2Go reads DAISY 2.02 and 3.0 materials from some other sources. Additional features, such as study tools, images and multiple languages, will become available in the coming months.
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Provide Individualized Math Practice
Designed for grades 1–6, Britannica SmartMath provides online math practice that adapts to each student’s ability. Unlike traditional math practice, SmartMath builds formative assessment into the learning process. Students who do well see more challenging questions, and students who struggle see progressively less difficult questions until they achieve success. With SmartMath, students spend more time on task because they are working at their own level and having fun, significantly improving their math skills and test scores. Try it out, for free, online.
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Click Here to Try Free Demo

Plus: Check out insideBritannica, a free monthly newsletter that includes tips to help librarians, teachers and students make use of the many educational resources in Britannica Online. Read previous editions of insideBritannica and learn more about this resource.
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Explore Life in Space
On May 16, LEGO Education sent 13 LEGO Education models to the International Space Station (ISS) onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. The models are being used in eight educational activities conducted by ISS crew. The LEGO Bricks in Space project is part of a joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and math. The in-class portion of the LEGO Bricks in Space project will be available to educators starting in September 2011. LEGOspace.com currently offers information about four of the activities and their educational value to teachers. The site also houses a number of downloads, video links, a LEGOnaut game and various facts about space exploration.
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Plus: The LEGO Bricks in Space project encompasses models from the LEGO CITY Space Port line with corresponding activities, such as a custom LEGO tour of the space shuttle and International Space Station. The LEGO CITY Space Port activities will also be available on the project's Web site later this fall.

Help Today’s Students Become Tomorrow’s Engineers
A World in Motion, a program of the Society for Automotive Engineers, includes a variety of design activities appropriate for elementary, middle and high school students, including designing jet-toy cars, skimmers (wind-powered vehicles), fuel-cell cars and other activities. A World in Motion also actively attempts to match engineers willing to do classroom presentations with teachers.
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Share Your Progress and Experience with Technology
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is seeking K–12 and postsecondary educators, administrators and faculty members to participate in its fourth annual Vision K–20 Survey. SIIA member organizations worked together to develop the Vision K–20 initiative to serve as a guide for educational institutions to implement technology district- and campus-wide. Sponsored by SIIA’s Education Division, the survey aims to collect additional data that will broadly assist educators in taking this project to the next level of knowledge and success. The survey closes May 31, 2011. Results will be shared this summer.
Click Here to Access Survey

Plus: Visit the initiative’s Web site to share and view videos that exemplify the Vision K–20 goals. Videos can be from your education institution, professional organization or SIIA member company.
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Listen to Timely Interviews on Education Topics
edWeb.net is a sponsor of Education Talk Radio, an Internet radio station that brings you timely interviews with innovative educators and industry leaders. Education Talk Radio takes you behind the scenes to hear from other educators about what’s happening inside America’s schools and colleges—and the latest issues, challenges and opportunities facing educators and administrators. You’ll also hear from industry executives about the new products, services and initiatives they are working on to advance learning at all levels of education.
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Give the Power of Global Knowledge
My Wonderful World, a National Geographic Society Web site, integrates geographic literacy into the content areas using multimedia resources, such as 2-D and 3-D maps, images, blogs, videos, digital games, quizzes and awareness campaigns. Students can conduct research into cultural, environmental and geographic issues, listen to world music, take virtual tours and add landmarks to maps. The Wayfaring feature lets students (collaboratively or individually) create their own personalized maps and share them with other students.
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Investigate the Past Through Authentic Materials
The Historical Treasure Chests activities from the Stevens Institute of Technology engage students in investigating authentic materials from the past. Students are provided with four primary sources and questions to guide their investigation. A wealth of other primary resources can be accessed on the Web sites listed in the reference section. By looking closely for details, students draw conclusions about the items and formulate their own hypotheses about the time period(s) during which the materials were created. Further research, using secondary sources, will either confirm or challenge their ideas.
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Go on a Virtual Literary Trip
Google Lit Trips is a collection of virtual literary trips embedded in the Google Earth geographic information program. When readers download a Lit Trip from the lesson database, they can follow the plot and characters of a given book through those areas of the globe that serve as the book’s setting. For example, younger students who are reading Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings can take a virtual trip through Boston; students in grades 6–8 who are reading Laurie Halse Anderson’s Fever 1793 can virtually explore Philadelphia; and students in grades 9–12 who are reading Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner can virtually travel the difficult terrain of Afghanistan. During their journey, students view photographs, read excerpts from the book, answer questions, make connections between the book and the real world and explore links to supplemental information about particular locations and landmarks.
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Bring History to Life with Music
Sounds Historic explores how music is inspired by history, makes history itself or captures an important place and time. Students can listen to the pieces from the National Symphony Orchestra’s Sounds Historic concert and participate in listening activities for three of the pieces. Then they can follow composer Russell Nadel as he composes an original piece based on a historic event.
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Check Out the Tempo
San Francisco’s Symphony for Kids provides a way for students of all ages to hear, learn and have fun with music. On the site, students become familiar with the different instruments of the orchestra and learn music concepts in the music lab.
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