Online Resources at Students' Disposal!

Does your student have a country project to complete, need to make a poster about cells, want to watch a video story on butterflies, or need photos for a PowerPoint on the Civil War? Iowa  Area Education Agencies are providing twelve dynamic online resources for grades Preschool through 12  to all Iowa accredited schools. Rivermont students have access at school and at home (Internet access required), 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These online resources give your child access to a wealth of information for assignments, classroom projects, and personal interest and often provides assistance in citing their source for bibliographies as well.  

When accessing these online resources, students use information skills of finding, evaluating and using information; technology skills; and literacy skills in reading, analysis, and problem solving. The online resources are important tools for students to use and understand and will provide them with lifelong skills. A brief overview of each of the databases is listed below.

• AccuWeather (PreK-12) - Local and international weather conditions and forecasts for research, presentations and projects.
• AP Images (PreK-12) - Over 7 million primary-source photographs from the 1800's
• up to a minute ago, over 1.9 million sound bites from the 1920's up to a minute ago, 230,000 maps, charts and timelines, and 2.5 million text news stories from The Associated Press.
• Atomic Learning (PreK-12) - Access to over 50,000 tutorials on 205 technology applications - here is where to go if you have questions about using a computer program.
• BookFLIX (PreK-3) - An online literacy resource that pairs fictional video storybooks with related nonfiction books. Read-aloud feature provides accessibility to all readers.
• Vocabulary feature and interactive games extend student learning.
• Britannica Digital Learning (PreK-12) - A suite of products designed to support student research and classroom instruction, Britannica Digital Learning offers an extensive collection of reference and learning materials that are age-appropriate.
• CultureGrams (K-12) - An insider's perspective on daily life and culture, including the history, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people. Excellent United States section for 4th grade academic fair projects!
• Gale - Cengage Learning (PreK-12) - An eResource package offering screened and reliable content from magazines, newspapers, and reference materials. Ten different resources are designed for age-appropriate access.
• iCLIPART For Schools (PreK-12) - A collection of more than 7.8 million royalty-free photos, clipart, fonts, animations, and sounds that can be used in multimedia presentations, Inspiration diagrams, school websites, worksheets, newsletters, posters, signs, and more.
• Learn360 (PreK-12) - Educational streaming media offering thousands of full-length digital videos, video clips, images, audio files, newsreels, speeches and a comprehensive library of teaching resources from educational publishers.
• SIRS Issues Researcher (9-12) - Exploration of the origins, perspectives, and essential questions under debate on over 300 pro/con social issues. Review thousands of  articles, primary sources, statistics, websites, and multimedia.
• soundzabound (PreK-12) - Licensed audio that can be used without copyright infringement in videos, podcasts, and other forms of multimedia. The MP3 audio files are cross platform for use in any Mac or PC software that incorporates audio. Remember, just because you bought an mp3 does not mean you own the rights to re-publish it!
• Teen Health & Wellness (7-12) - Provides students with nonjudgmental, straightforward self-help support. Topics include diseases, drugs, alcohol, nutrition, mental health, suicide, bullying, green living, online safety, financial literacy, and more.

Your student can access these online resources at www.iowaaeaonline.org using our school's username and password. I've visited with students from 5th through 12th grade about these databases and they should have the username/password. If your student does not have this information, please email Shalar Brown at brown@rvmt.org and I can provide it for you. Remember, the license for these resources limits use to school related activities. See the included information on copyright for more guidelines regarding the fair use of online information for education: http://www.iowaaeaonline.org/pages/uploaded_files/CopyrightBN_StudentsScreen3.pdf  

If your  younger student loves finding information, many of the databases have kid-friendly interfaces for exploring any topic, such as Kid InfoBits in Gale and Britannica Learning Zone. Please encourage your child to use these resources when they are completing their homework and projects. If he is finding facts about a country using Wikipedia you can ask, "Have you tried CultureGrams or Britannica?" If she needs an article about a current event, ask if she's tried Gale. We appreciate your help in redirecting the students away from general internet searches and toward this excellent, free, reliable, and trusted information.

FAFSA Workshop - November 9, 7:00 PM

Seniors and parents of Seniors will be filing the FAFSA soon ( access open January 1, 2012)

Learn from the experts how to navigate the Free Application for Federal Student Aid by coming to ]Wednesday November 9 7:00PM workshop at Becherer Hall.

Representatives from the Iowa College Access Network will walk you through the application and answer individual questions.

Parents of Juniors and Juniors may also wan to attend.

Make Your Yearbook More Personal 

Rivermont's Visual Art Program is proud to announce that we are now part of the largest online student art museum, Artsonia! Every student involved in the visual arts at Rivermont will have their artwork published on this online art gallery. Artsonia helps use technology to create a dialogue between students and family members regarding students' artwork. Students and family members will now have the opportunity to view students' newly created artwork, join students' fan clubs, leave feedback about students' artwork, read artist statements, or even purchase a variety of student art imprinted keepsakes from the museum store.  Artsonia donates 15% of revenue from purchases to our schools art program, making it another possible source of financial support for our growing art program. We encourage you to help us share students' artwork with our far-reaching Rivermont community. Parental permission forms will be sent home to parents who still need to create an account on Artsonia so their child's artwork can be published. We have already published over a hundred works of art on Artsonia and we are excited to share even more fabulous art from our creative Rivermont students!  

www.artsonia.com

Please contact Ms. McCarty if you have any questions regarding Artsonia.mccarty@rvmt.org   

Student Hunger Drive News

Events Coming Up:

Can Sculpture Contest

Building Friday 11/4 - Wednesday 11/9

Judging Wednesday 11/9 & Thursday 11/10

Any group or class is invited to participate

Minimum of 25 cans must be used for each sculpture

Judges: Mrs. Sears, Mrs. Telleen, Mrs. Porubcin

Food donations are being accepted until 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 10.  Thank you for your support!