News

Here is a reminder that according to our space scheduling guidelines, CIMC staff begin processing requests for teaching lab space for Spring 2008 for classes where the primary location is the CIMC teaching lab on or after January 22, 2007.

CIMC and IMDC departments provide teaching labs and technology ready spaces free of charge for SoE classes and programs. Please review SoE Technology Spaces for more information about reservations, guidelines, and technology spaces.

To best track requests, we ask that you submit information via our web form. If you have questions about scheduling teaching space at the CIMC, please feel free to contact Catherine Stephens at cstephens@education.wisc.edu.

Posted by Catherine Stephens on February 1, 2007

Searching for a software tutorial to refresh your skills over winter break? CIMC staff provide web-based tutorials to assist with learning the use of computer software found in CIMC computer labs. The web list provides links to tutorials on EndNote, RefWorks, Desire2Learn (Learn@UW), Apple's iMovie, Concept Map Tools, Macromedia's Dreamweaver and Fireworks, Adobe's Photoshop, PageMaker, Premiere, and Microsoft's Office, and more.

We welcome your comments about the tutorials online. Please contact Catherine Stephens at cstephens@education.wisc.edu.

Posted by Catherine Stephens on February 1, 2007

Are you doing research on a topic that’s more than 10 years old? Do you love the breadth that comes with ERIC documents, but fear the microfiche reader? Well, there’s good news – ERIC has recently contracted to digitize and post on the Internet its collection of full-text documents indexed between 1966 and 1992. This digitization of approximately 340,000 documents (40 million pages) will be done in the spring of 2009. ERIC will make the documents available as their contractor, the National Archive Publishing Company, receives permission from both corporate and individual copyright holders.

Authors who contributed material to ERIC between 1966 and 1992 are urged to complete this contact form. Those who fill out the form will be provided with authorization agreements.

Posted by Jim Jonas on February 1, 2007

A new web resource has been added to the Center for Instructional Materials and Computing’s online education resources. The “Wisconsin Native Americans” resource page is a collection of web resources targeted to School of Education students and K-12 teachers, but also contains resources that would be useful to anyone who is interested in researching topics on Wisconsin’s Native American peoples. The page includes links to information on culture, history, arts, current events, and more. To access the page, visit the CIMC’s website and click on “Education Info,” or type in the following URL: http://cimc.education.wisc.edu/ed_info/pK12_guides/Wis_native.html.

Leia Verfuerth, SLIS practicum student, Fall 2006

Posted by Catherine Stephens on February 1, 2007

... the month that brings us snow, ice, cold, wind --- all those not so pleasant signs that winter is upon us. But, because CIMC staff prefers to focus on the positive, this month one of our displays highlights some of the books in our PreK-12 collection that celebrate the winter season! Come take a look at these items that focus on the fun, excitement, and adventure that the winter season can bring.

While you are here, stop by and browse some of our other featured displays. We have added a collection of online resources to our “Student Teaching” display --- items we hope will help with lesson planning for those of you who are student teaching this semester.

Dawnene D. Hassett, Assistant Professor in the Curriculum & Instruction Department of the School of Education, has written a very informative article which was published in the March 2005 online journal, New Horizons For Learning. http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/literacy/hassett.htm In her article, Prof. Hassett discusses the concept of hypertext and hyperreading for young people. For this departmental display, CIMC staff spotlights material from our PreK-12 collection that incorporates the reading comprehension concepts she addresses in her article.

Since February 1 also marks the beginning of Black History Month --- a four week long celebration of African American history begun in 1926 --- we are excited to feature CIMC collection materials that reflect the essence of this celebration, i.e., a time to commemorate African Americans who have made a significant cultural impact on our world.

As you settle into the semester and the season, we welcome your visits to the CIMC --- a warm and cozy place to spend some winter hours!

Posted by Patricia Eschmann on February 1, 2007

Kids' titles about winter, American music, and holidays . . .

50 Below Zero, by Robert Munsch; art by Michael Martchenko. (Annick/Firefly books, 1986)
LTy PZ3.M882 Fif 1986

Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story, by David A. Johnson. (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)
LTy PZ3.J6314 Sno 2006

Snow Is My Favorite and My Best, by Lauren Child; illustrations from the TV animation produced by Tiger Aspect. (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2006)
LTy PZ3.C4517 Sno 2006

Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics, by Sue Macy; foreword by Peggy Fleming. (National Geographic, 2006)
LTy GV841.5 .M33 2006

This Jazz Man, by Karen Ehrhardt; pictures by R.G. Roth. (Harcourt, 2006)
LTy PZ3.E231 Th 2006

Jazz, by Walter Dean Myers; illustrated by Christopher Myers. (Holiday House, 2006)
LTy PZ3.M992 Jaz 2006

Big City Song, by Debora Pearson; illustrated by Lynn Rowe Reed. (Holiday House, 2006)
LTy PZ3.P32438 Big 2006

Dizzy, by Jonah Winter; illustrated by Sean Qualls. (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Books, 2006)
LTy ML3930.G47 W56 2006

Ten Great American Composers, by Carmen Bredeson and Ralph Thibodeau. (Enslow, 2002)
LTy ML3929 .B73 2002

Holiday Songs for All Occasions [CD], by Jill Gillina. (Kimbo Educational, 1978)
LTy M1629.3 .G35 1978

Celebrate Holidays [CD], by Sara Jordan, Susan Pratt, Kim Smith, Sara Jordan. (Jordan Music Productions, 1999)
LTy GT3933 .J67 1999

Posted by Vince Jenkins on February 1, 2007

Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution
A lesson module on air pollution designed for educators and students at the middle school through high school level. Includes discussion on the various types of air pollution, the effects that they have on people, and what is being (or not being) done to correct the problem.

Solar System Exploration. Education
Educational resources on the solar system. Includes lesson plans and activities designed for K-12 students, multimedia resources, information about the Solar System Educators Program, and more.

AMSER (Applied Math and Science Education Repository)
Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of the National Science Digital Library, and ... created by a team of project partners led by Internet Scout, University of Wisconsin--Madison.

Kids Zone: Learning with NCES
Information from the National Center for Education Statistics about schools; college selection; finding public libraries; games, quizzes and skill building about math, probability, graphing, and mathematicians; and interesting facts about education.

Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse
A joint venture of the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English, this Clearinghouse provides access to literacy coaching research and best practice. Features professional standards for literacy/instructional coaches, issue briefs, a library, a blog, etc.

Michigan Teacher Network
"Michigan Teacher Network provides easy access to PreK-12 education related Web resources that have been carefully evaluated for quality, relevance, and effectiveness. MTN describes thousands of excellent resources that can be used with students in the classroom, with teachers for professional development, and by educators for planning and problem solving."

The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative
The United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) is the Education For All flagship for girls' education and principal movement to narrow the gender gap in primary and secondary education by 2005. Features background materials, articles, photo essays, videos, stories from the field, etc.

Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High School
Commissioned by Carnegie Corporation of New York and published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, this publication discusses eleven specific teaching techniques that research suggests will help improve the writing abilities of the country's 4th- to 12th-grade students.

Posted by Vince Jenkins on February 1, 2007

New professional works on various education controversies, and on teaching writing

The Case Against Homework: How Homework is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It, by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish. (Crown, 2006)
Prof LB1048 B46 2006

The Education Mirage: How Teachers Succeed and Why the System Fails, by Ira Jay Winn. (iUniverse, 2003)
Prof LB1025.3 .W566 2003

The Top 10 Myths About Evolution, by Cameron M. Smith and Charles Sullivan. (Prometheus Books, 2007)
Prof QH366.2 .S54 2007

The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: Knowing What's Real and Why It Matters, Ardea Skybreak. (Insight Press, 2006)
Prof QH366.2 .S525 2006

The English-Only Question: An Official Language for Americans?, by Dennis Baron. (Yale University Press, 1990)
Prof P119.32.U6 B37 1990

Write for Insight: Empowering Content Area Learning, Grades 6-12, by William Strong. (Pearson Allyn and Bacon, 2006)
Prof LB1576 .S854 2006

Once Upon a Fact: Helping Children Write Nonfiction, by Carol Brennan Jenkins and Alice Altfillische Earle. (Teachers College Press, 2006)
Prof LB1576 .J39 2006

How Writers Grow: A Guide for Middle School Teachers, by Cynthia Carbone Ward. (Heinemann, 2006)
Prof LB1631 .C38 2006

Writing Instruction K-6: Understanding Process, Purpose, Audience, by Jan Turbill & Wendy Bean. (Richard C. Owen Publishers, 2006)
Prof LB1576 .T85 2006

Study Driven: A Framework for Planning Units of Study in the Writing Workshop, by Katie Wood Ray. (Heinemann, 2006)
Prof LB1576 .R363 2006

Posted by Vince Jenkins on February 1, 2007

CIMC workshops are designed to help you learn technology skills and master information literacy. Spring 2007 workshop titles include:

Exploring Learning Spaces with Second Life, with Catherine Stephens
EndNote in a Nutshell, with Jim Jonas
Creating a Poster for a Conference, with Anna Lewis
Introduction to Managing Information with RefWorks, with Jim Jonas
Introduction to Dreamweaver, with Chris Dowling
Dreamweaver and Cascading Style Sheets, with Chris Dowling
Digital Storytelling, with Chris Blakesley
New Tools for Teaching with Technology, with Jim Jonas
Using Google for Academic Research, with Jim Jonas
Introduction to SPSS, with Chris Dowling

Detailed descriptions, dates and times, and registration information can be found online. For further information about CIMC instruction opportunities, contact Catherine Stephens at cstephens@education.wisc.edu.

Posted by Catherine Stephens on February 1, 2007