Three Ways to Explore the News Through Maps

One of the things that I liked about the old version of CNN Student News is that it almost always included a map to show students where a story is taking place in the world. I tried to do the same whenever I taught current events by showing students a map of where a story takes place. It can also be good to let students pick a place on a map and then read stories about that place. The following three websites can provide students with a geographic connection to current and historical news stories.

Newspaper Map is a neat tool for locating and reading newspapers from locations all around the world. Newspaper Map claims to have geolocated 10,000 newspapers. To find a newspaper you can browse the map then click on a placemark to open the link within to read a newspaper. You can also locate newspapers by using the search boxes to locate a newspaper by title or location. Along with links to the newspapers, Newspapers Map provides links to translate the newspapers you find on the map.

Unfiltered News is a new site that uses an interactive cartogram to help you find trending news stories from around the world. To find stories through Unfiltered News simply open the website and click on a topic listed within one of the circles on the map. Once you've made a selection a list of stories will appear on the right side of your screen. Click on a story to read it in full. From the menu on the right side of the screen you can choose a different location and a new list of stories will appear.

The U.S. News Map is a great resource produced by Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. The U.S. New Map is an archive of American newspapers printed between 1836 and 1925. You can search the archive by entering a keyword or phrase. The results of your search will be displayed on an interactive map. Click on any of the markers on the map and you'll be shown a list of newspaper articles related to your search term. Click on a listed article to read it on the Library of Congress' Chronicling America website.

Get Organized With Google Classroom, Meet, and Calendar

Like a lot of you, I’ll be using Google Classroom, Google Meet and Google Calendar more than ever before this fall. I’ve been using these tools for years, but I know that many of you will be using them extensively for the first time. This Wednesday at 4pm ET I’m hosting a webinar for you!

On Wednesday at 4pm ET I’m hosting Get Organized With Google Classroom, Meet, and Calendar. This webinar is intended for those who are new to using Google Classroom, Google Calendar, and Google Meet. It’s also a good refresher for those who haven’t used Classroom, Calendar, or Meet in a while and want to see what’s new and helpful.

Highlights of the webinar:

• How to schedule and host Google Meet events.
• Tips for keeping students engaged in Google Meet.
• How to streamline your workflow through Google Classroom.
• How to organize and share resources with students.
• How to manage multiple course calendars without losing your mind.
• How to save time when giving feedback on students’ documents and presentations.

What’s included in your registration:

• Access to the live webinar and Q&A.
• Recording of the webinar.
• PD certificate.

Register Here!

The primary way that I'm able to keep FreeTech4Teachers.com running is through the support of those of you who hire me for professional development services and enroll in my PracticalEdTech.com webinars. That is why I advertise these paid webinars on this blog. 




Register Here!

SciShow Kids Returns Next Week!

A little over a year ago SciShow Kids, one of my favorite YouTube channels, announced a hiatus. I thought that was going to be then end of the channel. Much to my surprise this afternoon I saw an update from the channel announcing its return. SciShow Kids returns next week with new videos for elementary school students.


Applications for Education
SciShow Kids offers great video lessons on a wide range of topics in science. Over the years I've featured their videos about sharks, thunder and lightening, and a whole playlist about simple machines. All of these videos are great on their own or when used in lessons on EDpuzzle.