Annenberg Learner Update
November 2011

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In the Spotlight for November

Guest Speakers at Upcoming Conferences

Curriculum Focus: Astronomy

Current Events
    Nobel Prize in Physics
    Justices Breyer and Scalia’s Senate Hearing
    The Occupy Protests

Connecting Learning with Special Days
    Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos (November 1-2)
    Veterans Day (November 11)
    America Recycles Day (November 15)
    National French Week (November 8-14)
    Geography Awareness Week (November 13-19)
    American Indian Heritage Month
    National AIDS Awareness Month

Notable November Birthdays
    Marianne Moore, American poet (November 15, 1887)
    Martin Scorsese, film director (November 17, 1942)
    Edwin Hubble, astronomer (November 20, 1889)
    Stephen Crane, American novelist (November 1, 1871)
    Martin Luther, theologian (November 10, 1483)
    Mark Twain, American author (November 30, 1835)

Annenberg Learner Announcements
    NEW! Learner Log Blog
    NEW! Neuroscience and Economics
    Your Input: Monthly Update Topics
    Print Catalog and Social Media

Annenberg Foundation Update

Distance Learning Update

Guest Speakers at Upcoming Conferences

ACTFL, November 18-20, Denver, CO
Session title: Foreign Language Standards Videos: Still Useful After All These Years
Come hear from foreign language educators June Philips of Weber University and Ursula Lentz of University of Minnesota. Philips and Lentz will speak about how they have used the Teaching Foreign Languages K-12 classroom videos with pre-service and in-service language teachers. The session is Sunday, November 20 at 10 a.m., Room 302, at the Colorado Convention Center. A set of the library videos will be given away as a door prize! Also visit Annenberg Learner’s exhibit booth for show discounts.

NCSS: National Council for Social Studies, December 2-4, 2011
Dr. Philip Zimbardo, internationally known psychologist, researcher, author, and host of Annenberg Learner’s popular course Discovering Psychology, will speak about his current research in psychology at the NCSS conference in Washington, DC on Friday December 2, at 3:15 p.m. in room 202A in the Walter Washington Convention Center. Teachers and educators attending the conference can attend the talk and stop by Annenberg Learner’s booth in the exhibit hall to learn about new series and show discounts. Annenberg Learner is sponsoring Dr. Zimbardo’s talk.

Curriculum Focus: Astronomy

Our fascination with astronomy often starts when, as young children, we first look up at the moon and the stars. Look to the following Annenberg Learner resources for strategies to teach astronomy or if you just want to know more about the awe-inspiring subject.

Grasp how immense our solar system is and examine evidence about how it was formed in Earth and Space Science, session 8, “Order Out of Chaos.” Also look at how children understand the universe in order to inform your teaching.

A Private Universe Teachers’ Lab offers teachers a great hands-on activity to teach students about the phases of the moon.

Teachers examine their students’ thinking about science concepts such as what causes seasons and why there are lunar phases in A Private Universe Project in Science, workshop 1, "Astronomy: Eliciting Student Ideas." Learn how to help students use journals to keep track of their thinking.

For more resources related to astronomy, see:

Physics for the 21st Century, unit 10, “Dark Matter”

The Mechanical Universe, programs 24 and 25

Planet Earth

Earth Revealed, program 1, “Down to Earth”

Current Events

Nobel Prize in Physics

Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for overturning a fundamental assumption in their field by providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is constantly accelerating.

In Physics for the 21st Century, unit 11, “Dark Energy,” learn more about this evidence and the mysterious “dark energy” that may be driving the expansion.

Supreme Court Justices' Senate Hearing

In October C-SPAN aired a Senate hearing with Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia on the role of judges under the Constitution. They explored a number of topics, including the selection and appointment process. Justice Scalia participates in more conversations on judicial elections and neuro-enhancement in programs 4, “Choosing Justice: Elections & Judicial Independence” and 5, “A Better Brain: The Ethics of Neuro-enhancement” of Ethics in America II.

United Protest, Divided Reasons

As the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy DC protests spread to cities across the country, we are reminded of similar periods in history when people and government looked for ways to stop an economic tailspin. The multifaceted nature of these protests highlights the conflict Americans have about what is best for our economy, environment, and society.

Compare and contrast the political, social, and economic climate of the past and present. For example, compare how both the current administration and Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s have handled job stimulation. See America’s History in the Making, unit 18, “By the People, For the People.”

Connecting Learning with Special Days

Day of the Dead/ Día de los Muertos (November 1-2)

Art Through Time, unit 6, “Death,” shows how different societies interpret death. Make comparisons of practices and beliefs about death across cultures and time. Also, read about La Calavera de la Catrina by José Guadalupe Posada (Mexican, 1852–1913). This image has become the icon of the Day of the Dead.

Monarch butterflies are landing in their sanctuaries in Mexico in November, just as Mexicans are celebrating the Day of the Dead. See a slideshow in Spanish and English of practices and artifacts associated with the holiday on the Journey North Web site. Then check out a Día de los Muertos lesson plan that looks at cultural traditions of Mexico and makes connections to seasonal changes.

Veterans Day (November 11)

Professor Donald Miller gives a personal view as he describes what life was like for soldiers and their families in program 22, “World War II,” of A Biography of America.

Psychiatrist Daniel Shay connects the experiences of American soldiers returning from war to the return of Odysseus to Ithaca following the Trojan War in Invitation to World Literature, program 3, “The Odyssey.”

"Postwar Tension and Triumph," program 19 of America's History in the Making, takes a look at the realities that veterans faced when they returned home from World War II.

Hollywood has used war as propaganda both in favor of and against the use of American troops in foreign conflicts. See the role of government and media in how combat films have evolved in American Cinema, program 6, "The Combat Film."

America Recycles Day (November 15)

Students learn the chemistry of recycling aluminum cans and discuss efforts to recycle the metal in Reactions in Chemistry, unit 7.6, “Recycling Aluminum.”

Examine how much trash our communities produce and find out where it all goes in the interactive, Garbage. What are some communities doing to improve the ways they reduce and recycle waste?

National French Week (November 8-14)

The American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) has announced the themes of National French Week: Cuisine; The Arts and Arts and Crafts; Science, Technology, and Careers; Music and Dance; Sports, Games, and Traditions.

Prepare for French Language Week with these resources:

Teaching Foreign Languages K-12: A Library of Classroom Practices includes eight diverse classrooms with engaging strategies for teaching French. In program 12, “A Cajun Folktale and Zydeco,” Ms. Granville leads her students in an interactive lesson on Cajun culture that combines music, storytelling, and agriculture.

In program 5, “Mapping Planet Earth,” second graders in Stephanie Appel’s French class talk science. Watch her as she leads her class through Total Physical Response exercises to learn vocabulary, and guides them through discussion on their knowledge of the solar system to specific continents. She says, “when you’re trying to decide what to teach as a world language teacher, you really need to think about what subjects will catch the interest of your students and I think that, why not steal the energy they get from learning those topics?”

Revisit the early days of the American republic and its diplomatic dealings with France and Haiti during their own revolutions in America’s History in the Making, program 6, “The New Nation.”

Geography Awareness Week (November 13-19)

This year‘s National Geographic’s Geography Awareness Week theme is The Adventure in Your Community. A geographic perspective of a community, no matter how big or small, can help us understand that community better. National Geographic is challenging people to participate in missions that involve activities such as photography and mapping.

Annenberg Learner’s resources offer ways to help students understand their communities. For example, in Teaching Geography, workshop 3, “North America,” Herschel Sarnoff teaches his 10th-graders at Jordan High School in Los Angeles how to use geographic information system (GIS) skills to map technology’s impact on economic success in their community.

See how artists interpret the urban experience around the world in Art Through Time, program 11, “The Urban Experience.” Then encourage students to create a painting, map, or collage that interprets their own urban or rural experiences.

American Indian Heritage Month

The Anasazi Indians left nearly all of their possessions in Chaco Canyon. Learn about the pueblos they built in the canyon over 1,000 years ago and why they might have abandoned them in the interactive Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fall?, “Chaco Canyon.”

In Biography of America, program 1, “New World Encounters,” Professor Donald Miller describes pre-colonial America and why many indigenous groups were overcome by Spanish conquistadors.

American Passages: A Literary Survey, unit 1, “Native Voices,” offers an overview of the connection between myth, history, and people in Native American cultures. Black Elk, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Luci Tapahonso are featured.

Additional resources for American Indian Heritage Month:

Interactives, “United States History Map,” “Indians”

America’s History in the Making, unit 2, “Mapping Initial Encounters”

National AIDS Awareness Month

Rediscovering Biology, unit 6, “HIV and AIDS,” explores the human immune system and recent developments in AIDS research. Graphics and animations showing, for example, helper T cells and the progression of the HIV infection and AIDS accompany the online text and video.

What happens when someone is facing his or her death? An epidemiologist with AIDS discusses how facing his death and the death of others has affected his outlook and choices in life in Death: A Personal Understanding, program 5, “Fear of Death and Dying.”

Notable November Birthdays

Marianne Moore, American poet (November 15, 1887)

Watch interviews with Marianne Moore, commentary, and dramatic readings of her poems in Voices & Visions, program 8, "Marianne Moore: In Her Own Image." She called herself an unromantic poet and saw her craft as her job. See the fascinating way she collected ideas from her environment.

For additional information on Moore’s work and life, see American Passages unit 11, "Modernist Portraits."

Martin Scorsese, film director (November 17, 1942)

Find out how Martin Scorsese and his peers reinvented the American film in American Cinema, program 1, “The Hollywood Style,” and program 9, “The Film School Generation.”

Edwin Hubble, astronomer (November 20, 1889)

Physics for the 21st Century, unit 11, “Dark Energy,” section 3, “Discovery of the Expanding Universe,” explains how Edwin Hubble gathered information to prove the universe is not static as Einstein had assumed years before. Help students understand this law by using a physical classroom with people and objects to create a model of an array in space that continuously expands out in all directions. See the example in the program.

Additional November birthdays:

Stephen Crane, American novelist (November 1, 1871)
Literary Visions, program 5, “The Story’s Blueprint: Plot and Structure in Short Fiction”

Martin Luther, theologian (November 10, 1483)
The Western Tradition, program 27, "The Reformation"
Art Through Time, program 12, “Conflict and Resistance” segment on iconoclasm explains how images were used during the Reformation to challenge the authority of the church.
Renaissance interactive

Mark Twain, American author (November 30, 1835)
American Passages: A Literary Survey, unit 8, "Regional Realism," unit 14, “Becoming Visible,” and unit 12, “Migrant Struggle"
Democracy in America, unit 15, "Global Politics: U.S.A. and the World"

Annenberg Learner Announcements

We have two new resources and a blog coming very soon! Please keep an eye on our Web site, learner.org, for updates.

Neuroscience & the Classroom looks at research from the field of the mind, brain, and education and its implications for K-12 classroom teachers. It will also be useful for school counselors and college-level psychology and child development courses.

Economics U$A: 21st Century Edition brings this popular course up to date with new stories and interviews on current economics topics including the banking crisis and federal deficits. The new course includes an accompanying Web site on learner.org.

Also, Annenberg Learner is starting a blog for teachers and learners to discuss topics related to our resources. Get ideas for your classroom, engage in thoughtful conversations with your peers, and learn, learn, learn!

We Want to Hear From You

Please send us topics you would like to see in the next month’s monthly update by the 10th of each month. We will try to fit in your suggestions when possible. Email info@learner.org.

Print Catalog

To request a copy of our Annenberg Learner main catalog or our subject catalogs in Science and Math, Humanities, Literature and Language Arts, and Social Studies, please send an email to order@learner.org. Be sure to include a mailing address in your request. Thank you!

Get regular updates through social media. Follow Annenberg Learner on
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Annenberg Foundation Update

Opening December 17, 2011, The Annenberg Space for Photography will present “Digital Darkroom, An Exploration of Altered Realities,” featuring the work of 17 artists from around the world. Compare their images created using Photoshop with more traditional paintings and sculptures of dreamscapes and personal fantasies by past artists, from aboriginal artists to surrealists in program 2, “Dreams and Visions,” of Art Through Time. The current exhibit, BEAUTY CULTURE, will run through November 27th.

Lauren Bon and her team at the Metabolic Studio created a giant liminal camera and are taking it on a journey across the U.S. The Liminal Camera Tour is crossing America with the American flag as a subject. From Flag Day 6/14/11 until Veterans Day 11/11/11, the Liminal Camera is shooting locations that are in a state of transition due to devastating events. In each location, including New York City, a large-scale American flag will be present. On Veterans Day weekend, the camera is coming to Washington DC to photograph veterans and will be available for viewing, along the photos taken, on 11/12 and 11/13/11 at the Hirshhorn Museum of Art on the National Mall.

Keep up with news and information about the Annenberg Foundation by subscribing to one or more of the Foundation newsletters.

Distance Learning, Licensing, and Sales Update

Upcoming conferences:

North Carolina Community College Association of Distance Learning (NC3ADL), November 6-8, Raleigh, NC
SLOAN-C, November 9-11, Orlando, FL
ACTFL, November 18-20, Denver, CO
NCSS: National Council for Social Studies, December 2-4, Washington, DC

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