GSO to Go: the monthly teacher resource newsletter from GeorgiaStandards.org [Feb. 2008]

GSO to GO

The Monthly Teacher Resource Newsletter from GeorgiaStandards.Org
NEWS FOR FEBRUARY 2008

General Information

GSO Training Opportunities
GeorgiaStandards.Org (GSO) is partnering with educators across the state in providing training opportunities to schools and educational organizations in the use of GSO's public website and online portal workspace to help teachers prepare teaching and learning activities. Face-to-Face The GSO team can provide workshops at your location: A 45-60 minute overview of the GSO
website resources and portal workspace.

Half-day "hands-on" workshop on using the portal technology tools to create instructional units aligned with the GPS.
Online Learning GSO has just introduced an online learning space to provide access to e-learning provided by various departments within the DOE. GSO currently has these courses
available: GSO Public Website: A Guided Tour GSO Portal: A Guided Tour Foundations for Georgia's Performance
Standards Contact the GeorgiaStandards.Org
staff to schedule training for your school by

emailing us or by calling 1-404-463-1280.

GSO Categories

General Information

1

4 Best Practices/Continuing Education

Celebrating February

5

New GSO Content

6

February
2008

Young Georgia Authors' Writing Competition
Journals, rubrics and writing prompts...as a teacher you have covered it all in your ELA curriculum. That's why your students are ready for the Young Georgia Author's Writing Competition. This annual contest is a great way to encourage students to produce writing that represents their best efforts. At the system level competition, students may enter an original piece from any genre. From there, winning entries go on to the state level to be judged. One winning entry per grade level for each system may be submitted to the Georgia Department of Education by April 7, 2008. Final winners will be recognized at the September State Board of Education meeting. You may download the official rules booklet or take a look at the winners from the 200607 school year. If you have questions about the Young Georgia Authors' Competition you can contact Mary Stout at phone number 1-404-463-1933 or by email.

Georgia Department of Education - Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools - 1

Ashley Bryan now Performing on Georgia Read More!



Coretta Scot King Award winner

Ashley Bryan wrote and illustrated Beautiful

Blackbird, a wonderful retelling of the African

tale from Zambia that entertains readers with

elements of drama, rhythm and onomatopoeia.

However, this book is really brought to life by the

very animated Mr. Bryan in this month's Georgia

Read More video. Watch with your class, as

students who have flocked around Ashley Bryan

transform into active participants of the Beautiful

Blackbird story as they listen to the engaging

author read his book. By watching the Beautiful

Blackbird video, teachers can also address char-

acter development by discussing self-esteem is-

sues with students. Your literature program will

soar to new heights if you show this month's in-

stallment from the Georgia Read More vault!



The Georgia Department of Educa-

tion has implemented a literacy program aimed

at third grade students called the "Georgia Read

More" program. The concentrated efforts of the Library Media Services Department have re-

sulted in this award winning series. This program encourages children to read, supports parent-

child interaction, and promotes literacy and libraries. Simply select from the many videos of dig-

nitaries and celebrities reading a children's book aloud to a group of students. Each video sup-

plies a link to a vocabulary list that accompanies the story and some of the videos are also

available in Spanish. Included with most books are a Lexile score and links to author websites.

ELA Podcasts from the International Reading Association
The International Reading Association (IRA) is now offering two podcast series in the MP3 format. You can download each episode individually from their podcast page or subscribe in iTunes for Class Acts: Ideas for Teaching Reading and Writing or IRA Insights. You can listen on your computer or an iPod. Of the two series, K-12 teachers will favor the Class Acts series because it has teaching ideas based on research and classroom implementation. Each podcast episode includes links to articles, bibliographies, lesson plans and books. You will have to download iTunes to subscribe to either reading series.

GPB Contest Challenges K-3 Students on Writing and Illustrating
Georgia Public Broadcasting is having its Annual Reading Rainbow Contest that started on January 1 and lasts until March 3, 2008. The fourteenth annual competition will be looking for students from kindergarten through third grade who can tap into their storytelling abilities. Students are challenged to illustrate or write their very own storybooks. First place winners will move on to the national competition where generous prizes are awarded such as a laptop computer, flat panel TV with DVD player and an MP3 player. For rules and additional information on the Reading Rainbow Contest, please visit GPB.

GeorgiaStandards.Org Data Points
Year-To-Date (As of 1/2008)
Visitors to GeorgiaStandards.Org 168,857
Unique Visitors 91,679
Page views for all visitors 809,094
Average Time on Site 5 minutes 2 seconds
Number of Units that are Approved and Searchable in GSO
1,067
Number of Georgia Educators trained on GSO 2,660
Educators signed up to have access to GSO Unit Builder
12,444
Number of GSO Teacher Groups 741
Number of GSO Training Videos 191
Happy Birthday, TIE Network!
On January 1, 2007 GPB Education launched the TIE Network to educators. TIE has allowed Georgia educators another opportunity to network with each other primarily based on teaching ideas that integrate digital media into the curriculum. In only one year the TIE Network has had many accomplishments.
GeorgiaStandards.Org wishes TIE a Happy Belated Birthday and continued success.

Georgia Department of Education - Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools - 2

Digital Version of Georgia's Blue Book Now Available
The Georgia Official and Statistical Register also known as "Georgia's Blue Book" is now available as a web resource from the Digital Library of Georgia. This new resource has been added to the GALILEO demo system and according to its website, visitors have access to eight decades of Georgia history that includes information about:
Georgia's executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, providing biographical sketches of elected and other state officials. Georgia members of U.S. Congress and federal judges are included, as are county officials and regents of the university system. The Blue Books contain election returns, provide basic reference data on Georgia counties, and cover Georgia miscellany, such as the state flag, state flower, state song, rosters of Georgia governors, and legal holidays.
Sixth grade ELA teachers know that standard ELA6W3 states that, "The student uses research and technology to support writing." One of ELA6W3's elements also continues to affirm, "(The student) uses organizational features of electronic text (e.g., bulletin boards, databases, keyword searches, e-mail addresses) to locate relevant information." "Georgia's Blue Book" is a database that students can utilize to extract hard-to-find information on Georgia. In fact, the Georgia Performance Standards pairs research and the use of technology throughout many grade levels with ELA. Here are links to those ELA standards by grade level addressing research and technology:
ELA4W3 ELA5W3 ELA6W3 ELA7W3

ELA8W3 ELA9W3 ELA10W3 ELA11W3 ELA12W3
Teacher Grants Available by the GCA
Three grants are available through the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA). These grants are offered for resident artists (AIR), arts curriculum enhancement (ACE) and teacher professional learning (TPL). The TPLGrant is targeted towards individual teachers. Application deadline is March 3, 2008 and educators should take note that schools/ districts do not have to provide matching funds. Applications and additional information for these grants can be accessed from the Georgia Council for the Arts website.
GSO Posters
GeorgiaStandards.Org posters are available to all Georgia school systems. This year's GSO poster features Georgia teacher of the year Emily Jennette pictured alongside teacher of the year finalists Anthony Stinson and William Haskin. Contact Kathy Politis for more information for your school posters.

Meet the
GSO Staff
Kathy Politis 1952 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE Atlanta, GA 30334 p. (404) 463-1280 f. (404) 657-5183 kpolitis@doe.k12.ga.us
Beth Caraccio 1952 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE Atlanta, GA 30334 p. (404) 657-3543 f. (404) 657-5183 bcaracci@doe.k12.ga.us
Scott J. Wilson, Ph.D. 1952 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE Atlanta, GA 30334 p. (404) 463-6404 f. (404) 657-5183 scwilson@doe.k12.ga.us
Lynda Byrne Center for Quality Teaching and Learning Cunningham Center for Leadership Development Columbus State University Columbus, GA 31907-5645 p. (706) 565-3647 f. (706) 565-3648 byrne_lynda@colstate.edu
Traci M. Boyd 1952 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE Atlanta, GA 30334 p. (404) 463-1280 f. (404) 657-5183 tboyd@doe.k12.ga.us
Tony Vlachakis, MS 1952 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE Atlanta, GA 30334 p. (404) 463-1280 f. (404) 657-5183 tvlachak@doe.k12.ga.us

Georgia Department of Education - Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools - 3

Best Practices

Continuing Education

Collaborative Teacher Planning Groups
Most teachers and school systems are immersed in the challenge of implementing the new GPS. During the course of communicating with individual teachers and school officials, the staff of GeorgiaStandards.Org has encountered some wonderful examples of the planning and creating processes involved with this implementation. We would like to share these Best Practice examples with our teachers to illustrate different ways of successfully implementing the Georgia Performance Standards within a Georgia school or classroom. If you have a "successful implementation" that you would like to share please send us an email so that we can contact you to get the details.
Teachers at Monroe Area High School in Walton County have made use of GeorgiaStandards.Org's detailed, online unit planner to collaborate on a variety of units during day-long planning sessions. Teachers in each core department are provided with substitute teachers for one day each semester to allow for in-depth collaboration. The school's Instructional Coach provides training on the use of GeorgiaStandards.Org's unit planner and oversees the collaborative process.
Teachers at Monroe Area High School have found the unit planner to be of great assistance in guiding the backwards design process. The unit planner template provides detailed instruction and prompts regarding the ordered activities of unit planning and all its related aspects (assessments, rubrics, performance tasks, etc.)
By grouping the teachers into collaborative planning groups on the GaDOE unit planner site, teachers are also able to examine each other's units and provide ongoing modifications and feedback during separate planning periods. The result has been rich, effective units with a variety of useful resources and best practices.

ELA and Math Teachers Receive Professional Learning Online
In January 2008, there were over 150 connections through Elluminate, software that supports a real-time online classroom environment, where teachers of all grade levels received customized Georgia Performance Standards training. This GPS training was offered multiple times during the month of January and targeted K-8 Mathematics and K-12 ELA/Writing teachers. Educators had logged in from all over Georgia. The Georgia Department of Education is excited to continue this type of training through the Spring of 2008. K-8 Math teachers and K-12 ELA teachers can browse flexible dates, times and links to upcoming Elluminate meetings in February and March that fit their schedule.
Pioneer RESA ETTC Offers Courses in Class and Online
The Pioneer RESA ETTC is located in Cleveland, GA and serves Pre-K through post secondary (P-16) educators in the Northeast region of Georgia. Pioneer offers both classroom and online learning opportunities to teachers. Teachers have many choices from the Pioneer course catalog to earn PLUs. Some of the course options include Engaging Learners with 21st Century Curriculum, Blogging 101 and Online Let's Google. Teachers can also access the Pioneer Online Registration System which provides a list of courses offered with price and PLU information. The Pioneer RESA ETTC has set-up an informative page that lists all the school districts that they serve with a description and picture of each. The Educational Technology Training Centers (ETTCs) work collaboratively to provide professional learning, consulting, and service for Georgia educators to promote the appropriate use of technology in support of teaching, learning, and leadership. Thirteen ETTC training centers are located throughout the state for your convenience.

Photo: (L-R) Monroe Area High School ELA teachers Cheryl Brazelton, Tammy Wade, and Kelley Silver use the GaDOE unit planner template to collaborate on a unit for 11 grade literature.

39th Annual Children's Literature
Conference
Athens, Georgia is hosting the 39th Annual Conference on Children's Literature from February 29 to March 1, 2008. K-8 teachers, library media specialists, public librarians and others interested in children's literature will enjoy this venue. The conference will take place in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center & Hotel, which is located on the historic campus of the University of Georgia in Athens. Learn more about the tentative agenda, conference events or Georgia Children's Book Awards Program by visiting the Children's Literature conference page.

Georgia Department of Education - Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools - 4

Celebrating February

communicate collaborate

9
1824 - The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president.

18
President's Day

12
1809 - Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US president , was born.

21
1965 Malcolm X was shot to death in New York City

connect
Downloads
> February calendar template > Dental Fun Activity Sheets
Links
> New GSO Content > The Georgia Official and Statistical Register > Auburn Avenue Research Library

15
1564 - Astronomer Galileo Galilei was born.

23
1868 WEB Du Bois, civil rights writer, was born.

Themes
> African American History Month > FREE Presidents Day Webcast

February in Georgia History February EDSITEment Calendar of Special Events

The New Georgia Encyclopedia (NGE) notes February 1733 as a very significant date in our state's history. Georgia became a colony through the perseverance of an individual who also carried the roles of social reformer and military leader. Do your students know the founder of Georgia? This visionary also initiated the city plans for the city of Savannah. In studying Colonial Georgia, eighth grade social studies teachers can reference SS8H2 of the Georgia Performance Standards. NGE's February in Georgia History also features the Battle of Kettle, the completion of Georgia's first Constitution and the South's oldest college football rivalry. Challenge your students to research the New Georgia Encyclopedia to find out who was the first African American congressman to speak on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Teachers can access many more NGE articles for February that are about history, politics, entertainment and more.

The February calendar from EDSITEment is a collection of peer-reviewed websites and lesson plans covering this month's holidays and special events. February is African American History Month and EDSITEment highlights many activities and lessons focused around this celebration. Some of the EDSITEment's African American History lesson plans include The Poet's Voice: Langston Hughes and You, Attitudes Toward Emancipation, Dr. King's Dream, From Courage to Freedom: Frederick Douglass' 1845 Autobiography, Perspectives on the Slave Narrative, Harlem 1900-1940 and African-American Soldiers in World War I: The 92nd and 93rd Divisions.

FREE Presidents Day Webcast for High School Students
Does your high school want a great way to celebrate Presidents Day this year? Well, you are in luck because Thinkfinity (a GSO Top Pick) is currently featuring a free webcast for high school students. This must-see online event will be taught by Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author David McCullough. The webcast will highlight the first president of the United States, George Washington. This live event aptly titled "George Washington: From Commander in Chief to Chief Executive" will provide an opportunity for teachers and students to learn and ask questions about our first president. ConSource is sponsoring this event along with partner Verizion. ConSource also boasts the only free fully-indexed online library of constitutional sources. For technical requirements on viewing this event in addition to lesson plan materials that instructor David McCullough will be referencing can be accessed on this ConSource page.

Georgia Department of Education - Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools - 5

Celebrating February
Auburn Avenue Research Library
Celebrate African studies all year long with the exceptional programs and events at the Auburn Avenue Research Library (AARL). This special library is located in Atlanta (directions) and is part of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. This is the first library in the Southeast to house specialized reference and archival collections for the study and research of African cultures. Tours of the AARL facility are available by appointment. You can also check out upcoming events and the Auburn Avenue Research Library calendar for important venues and activities. The AARL also allows you to log-on to some excellent online databases to research African-American culture and history.

Fly into February with more Fun Links
Education World has some Groundhog Day holiday links that you can use with your class. They also have some links straight from the heart for Valentine's Day. ELA teachers in grades K-8 can have students assemble Candy Heart Stories as a great writing activity. And what a great opportunity to learn about veins, arteries, capillaries and what else...the heart! Go with the flow and point your browser to PBS where you can visualize a six step animation breakdown of what the heart does day in and day out. Paging students...paging all students, in 19 steps they can perform a virtual heart transplant operation. Education World also has plenty to do with your students for Presidents' Day.

National Children's Dental Health Month
Every February Dental Health Month celebrates the awareness for the proper care of teeth and gums. The American Dental Association (ADA) wants children to start healthy habits of brushing, flossing and regular dental visits as soon as possible. The ADA has some great classroom ideas for teachers and fun printable activity sheets for students. Education World provides teachers with a lesson ideas and links for Dental Health Month, too.

Calendar Templates are
Back!
Many teachers have been requesting Word-formatted calendar templates to customize for their classroom planning and student handouts. GSO is excited to announce the return of the calendar template! Download the February calendar template now!

Other GaDOE
News
New GSO Content
Click here to view the new content that was added to GeorgiaStandards.Org.
February Media Matters
A newsletter for people who love Library Media Centers. You can also access the Media Matters archives.
GaDOE Press Releases
Click here to access media information for encouraging K-12 education in Georgia.
GSO Press Releases
Read all the latest news regarding Georgia Standards.
Subscribe to GaDOE Newsletter or Updates
If you would like to receive the enewsletter or updates from GaDOE, click here.
GeorgiaStandards.Org is a program under the office of Instructional Technology within the Georgia Department of Education
1952 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE Atlanta, GA 30334
Tel. (404) 463-1280 Fax (404) 657-518

Kathy Cox State Superintendent
of Schools
Georgia Department of Education - Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools - 6