To welcome you back from vacation, we’ve added a brand new video tutorial that I am super excited about! Check out Note Taking With BrainPOP and see how to take advantage of the Activity Pages and FYIs to teach this important skill to your students. A special thanks to Melissa Farran, 4th grade teacher at PS 261 in Brooklyn, NY, for sharing her expertise and her incredible class with us. Take a look, try it out, and please let me know what you think!

I am thrilled to feature one of our first place Election ‘08 Lesson Plan Contest Winners as our first guest blogger!

Beatrice shares her experiences using BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. with her two children as a homeschool educator in this powerful essay.

Beatrice’s award winning lesson can be found here.

A Different Way to Learn

by Beatrice Garcia

Eight years ago I decided to leave my traditional school classroom in Miami, Florida, and dedicate my life to help my daughter who had been recently diagnosed with autism. Three years later, I started my own school at home to teach her, since her first grade teacher told me she was sure Marie would never graduate from high school. I always remember this teacher. She was the one who made me realize that special needs children can achieve more than we can imagine if we have the interest to find new ways to teach them.

Among the many curriculums, educational materials, and resources that I have put together to teach and inspire my daughter to want to learn, there is one that is her favorite, BrainPOP Jr.

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We are thrilled to announce our Election ‘08 Lesson Plan Contest winners!

For BrainPOP Jr.

1st place - Let’s Vote for Our President!

by Beatrice Garcia, Elementary Ed./Home Educator Teacher
The Garcia Family Home Study Program, Georgia

2nd place - Your Right to Vote

by Peggy Perkins, GT Teacher and Technology Integration Guide
Mina Elementary, Texas

3rd place - Battle for the Presidency

by Kim Seward, Fourth Grade Teacher
St. Mark’s Episcopal Academy

For BrainPOP:

1st place - The Election

by Stacy Pluto, Teacher
Crystal Lake Elementary, Florida

2nd place - Choosing the President of the United States

by Gladys Tate, Teacher, 8th Grade Social Studies
Lewis Chapel Middle School, North Carolina

3rd place - Election Project 2008

by Jonathan Redeker
CJ Hooker Middle School, New York

We hope you will check out these award winning lesson plans and try them out with your students! Keep an eye out for a new Lesson Plan contest coming soon!

Congratulations to our award winning educators! First place winners will each receive a BrainPOP School Combo subscription (which includes BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr., and BrainPOP Español) and a class set of the BrainPOP Science Almanac. Second-place winners will each receive a BrainPOP Lab Combo subscription and a class set of the BrainPOP Science Almanac. Third place winners will each receive a BrainPOP Classroom Combo subscription.

Laurie and Allyson, Project Discovery Science teaching partners at K.W. Barrett Elementary School in Arlington, VA, used the BrainPOP Jr. video, “Plant Life Cycle” as an introduction to the exhibit they set up in their Discovery Lab.  The exhibit, TO BE A TREE, was loaned to them by the Virginia Living Museum.  Other educators may be interested in knowing about these exhibits (they have about 15 different exhibits). They are called Discovery Boxes.  Here is the link:

http://www.thevlm.org/teacherscorner/programs/discoveryboxes.php

Oh, and the fun speech bubbles? Check out: http://speechable.com to learn how to create free, online speech bubbles! Just think of the ways you can use this with BrainPOP. For starters, I’m thinking to invite students to translate Moby’s beeps into real words…  What else? Post your ideas here!

Thanks for sharing, Laurie & Allyson!

This just in! Robert, a 4th & 5th grade teacher extraordinaire in Port Orange, FL, shared another of his extremely creative & inspiring BrainPOP activities — What’s the Meaning of Tim’s Shirt? Try it out by downloading it on our graphic organizers page, and post below to let us know how it goes in your class.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Robert. Have you created a cool activity to go along with BrainPOP or BrainPOP Jr.? Send it on in, using our submission form, or email me to tell me about it! Our library of resources is growing in exciting new directions with contributions from our BrainPOP Educators!

Notice the “BrainPOP On Your Site” button on the left (below Newsletter!)? We’re very excited to offer you the ability to add BrainPOP’s featured movie to your educational blog or website! It took me less than 5 minutes to add it in here. It’s pretty easy — it’s just a line of code that we’ll email you once you request it that you paste into your page or template. I am loving what Dave Kootman, 4th grade teacher in Oceanside, CA did with this feature on his class website.

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