Camp Internet Briefing August 16 - August 22, 2004

Welcome Back To School!

Camp Internet is ready for a year of exploration, study, learning and creating.

This is the first of your weekly "briefings". Throughout the year you will receive a weekly update on class assignments, special events and new resources by email. This "briefing" is also available online at: http://www.campinternet.net/2003-2004/index.html.

I encourage you to read the Briefings online whenever possible. They provide active Internet links which can help a lot in your daily classroom use of Camp Internet.

Weekly Online Live Chat Sessions are new this year and of tremendous value to every Teacher. Each week, Friday evening 7 p.m., there is a live chat session. Camp Internet teachers and staff as well as special guests will be there each week to answer questions, help with current projects and share new idea. You will always be able to get to a Camp chat sessions from the Camp Internet homepage at http://www.campinternt.net.

In this weeks "Briefing" we will discuss 4 important new resources you will be using as part of the Camp Internet Program:
1) The Camp Internet Web Site - getting started
2) Camp Internet weekly Briefings - what, when and why
3) The Teachers Web Site and Resource Center - how to use
4) The Search Tool - how to use

Let's begin by reviewing the Camp Internet Web Site.

Everything begins at http://www.campinternet.net. That is the Camp Internet homepage. On the homepage you will always be able to find links, news and your Camp Internet Class.

The Camp Internet homepage has 3 parts. Along the top is a row of icons representing each of the Camp Internet study units or classes. Click on any of the icons to explore or start class. Right below this will always be new information, special notices and important links. This middle area of the homepage changes each week and is valuable to keep an eye on as new video, new storybooks and special events are always listed and linked to from this area. Below this the homepage is divided into left and right sides. On the left side is the Teachers Web site, the chat archives, video archives and other important resources. On the right side of the homepage are links to the Briefings, Digs, Field Reports, school Garden and GIS Registry and special areas like the Electives web, Peace Studies web and Non-Violent Gaming class unit.

Spend a little time getting familiar with the homepage so the location of your class, the search tool and the Briefings, Chatroom and other resources are easy for you to find when you are working with your students.

The Teachers Web is one of your most valuable resource areas in Camp. Forms, class tools, lesson plans and the keys to your Camp Internet Passports are all there with many other resources and software links.

Goto: http://www.rain.org/campinternet/keys/index.php and remember to check out the Teachers web each week.

Full year Courses in Science, Writing, Reading, Math, American and World History are just part of what is now available to you as a Camp Internet subscriber.

Remember, you can begin any of the courses anytime during the year and we will customize the schedule to fit yours.

Let's look at School Start Up.

Teacher's Web is the place to start. Become familiar with all the resources and tools available from the Teacher's Web.

After you have studied the Teacher's Web and read your Briefing Archive take a moment to think about record keeping. Important throughout the year and very important to begin at the beginning of the year.

Keeping records is an important part of any Classroom.

Goto your Forms and Printable Materials web.

Now - let's look at the Course work for school startup this month:

Science
We will study Geography this month.

Goto: Channel Islands Science to begin. Materials in english and spanish. Storybook format for K-3.

Goto: for California BackCountry Geography studies

Goto: for Ancient Southwest Geography studies.

You will find one very important theme running through through our Science courses. It is "the Scientific Method". Essential for all of the areas of science we will study this year.

Let's review the "Scientific Method" just a bit. Read your course materials at the Scientific Method study unit.

Assignment:
for Friday : Write 250 - 500 words describing what the Scientific Method is.

History
We will make a History Timeline. To help visualize the timeline we will also make our first map which we will use throughout this years History studies.

Goto: History Class Start Up

Goto: to begin study of Native American Life on the Pacific Coast

Goto: to continue your study of Native American Culture and Life. Read the Introduction

Goto: for the third study unit this month. Read the Introduction to Ancient Southwest History to begin.

Assignment:
Prepare your first Timeline. Goto: for the Timeline Project assignment. This unit will also give you a world map to print out for use during the year.

Writing
We begin this year with a word game all about Pirates. Goto: and prepare your word list as assigned.

Reading
Writting, both technical and creative, will be part of our Language Arts studies. As we go through our reading assignments we will also have reviews which will allow us to practice writting in many forms.

Goto: Reading Class Start Up for your first writting assignmnet.

A new part of our Camp Internet course options this year is the Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution program.

Combining Conflict Resolution studies with an emphasis on application in the classroom with a more general Peace Studies course we explore the history, literature and culture of Peaceful Societies.

Go straight to the Peace Studies web

If you have any questions send them over to camp@campinternet.net

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Where would you like to explore this week?
Camp Internet
Global Garden
Video Library & Broadcasting
Homeschool Campus
American History
ESL
Ocean Studies class Search the Camp web