Advance
excellent teaching
with Annenberg
Learner.
In the
Spotlight for Summer (June and July)
Summer
is almost here! This
summer fun version of
our update focuses on
learning that happens
while enjoying all that
summer has to offer. You
can do these learning
activities on your own
or with your family or
students. The next
update will land in your
inboxes around August
1st with tips for
starting the school
year. Have a safe,
happy, refreshing summer
and see you next school
year!
Connecting Learning with
Summer
Activities
Walk Along the Ocean
Ride on a
Roller Coaster
Grow a
Garden
Play
Baseball
Tell a
Story, Act Out
Be an
Artist
Additional
Summer Activities
Connecting Learning with
Special Days
Pollinators Week (June 17 - 23)
Independence Day (July 4)
Annenberg Learner
Announcements
Congratulations to Our
Listserv Tablet Winners!
Colorado State Educator
Survey (Win 2 CEUs!)
Colorado State to Offer
CEUs for Annenberg Courses
Learner Log Blog Updates
Free Learner Brochures
New
Site Header for Easier
Navigation
Annenberg Foundation
Update
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Connecting Learning
with Summer Activities
Walk
Along the Ocean
Oceans cover over 70% of the
Earth’s surface. As the school
year ends, many head to the
seaside to relax in the sun
and frolic on the beach.
Explore and appreciate the
ocean using the following
resources:
 What
is the structure of the ocean
and what causes that painful
“ear squeeze” in scuba divers?
See Habitable Planet,
unit 3, “Oceans,”
section 2. Sections
6 and 7
describe the biological
activity of the tiniest forms
of ocean life, plankton, that
form the base of marine food
webs.
Dive into Earth Revealed,
program 4, “The
Sea Floor,” to learn how
scientists use technology to
study the geology and biology
of the bottom of the
sea.
Explore the relationship
between rocky landmasses and
the energy of the ocean. See
illustrations of wave
movements and their impact on
the shores in Earth
Revealed, program 24, “Waves,
Beaches and Coasts.”
Use cyclic functions to track
the height of tides as they
come in and go out in Learning
Math: Algebra,
session 8, part A, Cyclic
Functions, Tides. At the
bottom of the page, watch the
video clip to see a “real
world” example of how to
calculate tides from the
Massachusetts Maritime
Academy.
Peer into the future of energy
by examining how experimental
ocean power systems harness
energy and the challenges of
using such systems in The
Habitable Planet, unit
10, “Energy Challenges,”
section 8, Hydropower
and Ocean Energy.
Ride on a Roller Coaster
The first roller coaster in
America opened on June 16,
1884. In Science in Focus:
Force and Motion,
workshop 5, "Keep
on Rolling," first grade
students build on their prior
experience with rolling
objects as they design, build,
and experiment with roller
coaster models. After
watching, try out the activity
with your kids.
Kids learn about the history
and physics of roller coasters
and design their own ride
while considering both fun and
safety using the Amusement
Park Physics interactive.
Grow a Garden
 Do
you have a green thumb? Why
not use that thumb to help
track the migration
of monarch butterflies? Journey
North provides schools
and individual citizen
scientists tools and
information for planting
butterfly gardens and
monitoring butterfly activity.
The data collected and posted
on the Journey North
Web site is used to track
seasonal change. This
page lists the types of
plants you will need to host
both monarch caterpillars and
butterflies.
You can also attract
hummingbirds by growing plants
with their preferred nectar.
Find instructions on the “Unpave
the Way for Hummingbirds”
page of Journey North.
Visit a virtual garden in Art
Through Time, program
10, “The
Natural World.” Find a
photo of the gardens created
by Henry Hoare II and Henry
Flitcroft at Stourhead Estate
in Wiltshire, England. Be
inspired by the symmetrical
arrangements that reflect a
nature-taming approach to
gardening.
Play Baseball
 Read
about the history of baseball
and look at how the pastime
reflects American culture,
including the American Dream
in American Passages,
unit 14, “Becoming
Visible.” In the
archives, find photos of
Americans of many ethnic,
cultural, and economic
backgrounds participating in
this unifying sport.
Why are baseball players today
less likely than their
forerunners to achieve a .400
batting average? Watch a
baseball-themed lesson on
creating a density curve in
program 4, "Normal
Distributions," of Against
All Odds: Inside Statistics.
Scott Boras, owner and
president of the Boras
Corporation, which represents
high profile baseball players
such as Stephen Strasburg of
the Washington Nationals,
talks about the business side
of baseball in the third case
study of the program “Markets”
from Economics U$A: 21st
Century Edition.
Tell a Story, Act Out
Enhance your summer reading by
adding story-telling and
theater to the literary mix.
 In
The Arts in Every Classroom,
“Bringing
Artists to Your Community,”
find ideas for engaging
children in story-telling
activities. Watch the
video up to 14:00 minutes to
see theater artist Birgitta De
Pree lead kindergartners in
imaginative warm-ups
culminating in telling a
story.
Discover the great Native
American tradition of
storytelling that involves
repetition, empathic delivery,
audience participation, and
common threads about legendary
tricksters, migrations, and
abductions in American
Passages, unit 1, "Native
Voices."
At your next reading group or
dinner gathering, act out
scenes from a play or take on
the roles of characters and
interact with each other in
those roles. For example, in Connecting
With the Arts, “Exploring
Our Town,” students read
the play Our Town,
discuss the historical context
of the story, and act out
characters and scenes.
Turn old myths or current
stories into puppet shows.
Watch a 6th-grade teacher
explore Greek myths through
puppetry with her students in
Connecting with the Arts, A
Teaching Practices Library,
6-8, “Breathing
Life Into Myths.”
Be an Artist
 Get
outside and paint, but first
learn from the masters in Art of the
Western World.
Copy the more traditional
styles of painters from
Velazquez and Rembrandt in
program 5, “Realms of
Light—The Baroque,” or the
abstract work of cubist
Picasso and surrealists Dali,
Magritte, and Miro in program
8, “Into the Twentieth
Century.”
See a mathematical perspective
of beauty and art by watching
the video for Mathematics
Illuminated, unit 6, “The Beauty
of Symmetry.” Then
try to create your own works
of art that include symmetric
patterns.
Transform yourself by making a
mask. See the lion-like Barong
Mask, created by a
Balinese artist, which
represents the “King of the
Forest.” Learn how cultures
associate masks with ceremony
in Art Through Time,
program 4, “Ceremony
and Society.”
Create a portrait after
looking at how artists from
all over the world and
throughout time have portrayed
faces in Art Through Time,
program 9, “Portraits.”
See the June/July 2012 update
for ideas for summer
games,
field trips and museums,
and carnivals.
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Connecting
Learning with Special
Days
Pollinators Week (June 17 - 23)
 Little
pollinators, hummingbirds,
butterflies, bats, and bees,
help keep the cycle of plant
life going. Visit this link to
learn more about how you can
help pollinators during National
Pollinators Week.
See the following Annenberg
Learner resources to learn about
the fascinating relationship
between plants and pollinators:
What do the characteristics of
flowers tell us about the types
of creatures that might
pollinate them? See Essential
Science for Teachers: Life
Science, session 4, “Flowers
and Pollination.”
Try the Mystery
Pollinator Adventure activity
(by Stephen Buchmann and posted
on Journey North) with your
students or kids. Kids
investigate fruits and their
flowers to figure out what type
of pollinator might be
responsible for their
reproduction.
Independence Day (July 4)
 As
you are enjoying your holiday
picnics, parades, and fireworks,
reflect on the history behind
Independence Day. "Revolutionary
Perspectives," of America's
History in the Making,
reveals the political wrangling
that led up to the Declaration
of Independence and other state
constitutions.
Watch A Biography of America,
“The
Coming of Independence,”
to see how English-loving
colonists were transformed into
freedom-loving American rebels.
Program 5, “A
New System of Government,”
presents the outsized
personalities that came together
to hash out new systems of
government for the American
people.
Do you know the lyrics for the Star
Spangled Banner beyond the
first stanza? If not, go to the
American Passages archive to
read the words, hear the music,
and sing along!
Other resources for Independence
Day include:
The
Western Tradition,
program 37, "The American
Revolution" and program 38, "The
American Republic"
American Passages: A Literary
Survey, unit 4, "Spirit
of Nationalism: Declaring
Independence, 1710-1850"
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Annenberg
Learner Announcements
Congratulations to
Our Listserv Tablet
Winners!
 The
two winners of our Samsung
Galaxy Note 10.1
tablet giveaway
are Marvin Denison of
Hopskinville, KY and
Nancy Houglum of Klamath
Falls, OR.
Denison, the upper
school head at
University Heights
Academy currently serves
as a college counselor
and teaches AP US
History and AP
Government and
Politics. "I have
used the Annenberg
materials for years in
my classes and referred
often to their wide
ranging source
materials."
Houglum, a kindergarten
teacher for Klamath
County School District,
writes "I have been
using Learner.org for
many years.
Several years ago I was
asked to teach 6th grade
math and after teaching
1st and K was not
feeling comfortable with
ways to work with the
older students.
The videos were
extremely helpful with
getting me up to speed
and ready for the
class. We did a
great job and they did
well on their state
testing. I was
really impressed with
the quality and the
content of the
videos. The Web
site has so much to
offer and is always well
made. I also use
the Learner
Express modules
for ideas and updates to
lessons. I also
like to learn new things
for myself and enjoy
watching videos that do
not work for my class,
but make me a better
person and teacher by
expanding my general
knowledge."
We're always interested
to hear how teachers and
students are using the
Update and content on
Learner.org in their
classes. Thanks so
much for keeping up with
us in this space as well
as our social media
pages, and congrats to
our winners again!
Take Survey, Win 2
CEUs
In preparation for
expanding Colorado State
University's course
offerings of the
Annenberg Learner
series, we are
collecting information
about teacher
professional development
and licensing matters.
This questionnaire
should take
approximately 10 minutes
to complete. Guidelines
for answering the
questions are typed in
italics. Most questions
can be answered by
marking the most
appropriate answer.
Thank you very much for
your input! In return
for completing this
survey, we will enter
your name in a drawing
for (2) Continuing
Education units. The
drawing will be held
Summer 2013 and winners
will be notified by July
31, 2013.
Colorado State to
Offer CEUs for
Annenberg Courses
 Starting
June 1, in addition to
offering graduate credit
for Annenberg Learner
professional development
and content courses,
Annenberg Learner and
Colorado State
University (CSU) will
begin offering
continuing education
units (CEUs) for
teachers, beginning with
the 10 most popular math
and science courses.
Teachers will be able to
register for either
graduate credit or
non-credit continuing
education units on
Colorado State’s Online
Plus Web site. For a
modest tuition fee – $98
per credit plus $20
technology fee for
graduate credit, or $50
per continuing education
unit – teachers can
access the course
materials available at
no cost at Learner.org,
register with Colorado
State, and earn CEU or
graduate credit on a
rolling schedule
throughout the year.
Find details and course
listings on this CSU
page, under “A
new opportunity –
Annenberg Learner
noncredit courses.”
Learner Log Blog
Updates
Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics
scientists and science
educators Phil Sadler,
Gerhard Sonnert, Harold
Coyle, Nancy Cook-Smith,
and Jaime Miller find
that one key factor in
improving student
performance in science
understanding is teacher
familiarity with popular
science misconceptions.
View the
post on our blog
and share your comments
underneath.
Free Learner
Brochures
Attending any
professional development
sessions or training
this summer? Order free
Annenberg Learner brochures
to hand out.
New Site Header for
Easier Navigation
Notice something
different about our Web
site? The new header on
Learner.org makes
it even easier to find
what you are looking
for. We’ve also added
tabs for direct links to
lesson plans and
interactives by grade
and discipline.
Let us know what you
think of the new header
at info@learner.org.
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Annenberg Foundation Update
The Annenberg
Space for Photography
provides free
instructional resources
on its Web site for
teachers K-12. Download
educator resource guides
for several of the
Space's exhibits,
including War/Photography,
No Strangers, Who
Shot Rock & Roll,
Digital Darkroom,
and Beauty Culture.
Teachers can use the
packet in class and/or
during a visit to the
venue. Specific to each
exhibit, each guide
includes an age
recommendation,
biographies of the
featured artists,
related curriculum and
content standards,
suggested questions and
activities. Visit the Education
section on the
Annenberg Space for
Photography Web site to
access the guides as
well as other
education-related
material.
Photo
by Unique
Nicole at the
Space
Keep up with news and
information about the
Annenberg Foundation by
subscribing
to one or more of the
Foundation newsletters.
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