Holiday Websites!

Holiday Wednesday Websites! As we are winding down the year here are some sites for the coming weeks. I've got some holiday sites here as well as some classroom projects that are starting in the new year. Take a look and let me know what you think and whatever else you find. Hope everyone has a great holiday and a relaxing break.

Find holiday stories by kids on the KidProj's Multicultural Calendar .

Forget to send cards ahead of time? No money for stamps? Send an Awesome Cyber Card for Hanukkah, Kwannza, Christmas, and more.

Or send a card that really will mean a lot to a kid -- The Polar Express website is set up to forward email greetings to hospitalized kids. The site was established by Houghton Mifflin and they will donate a copy of The Polar Express or another book to a children's hospital for every 25 message received.

Try 123 ways to say Merry Christmas.

For information about the ancient origins of the winter holidays, take a look at this Winter Solstice page.

Read about Christmas traditions in Mexico.

Try something different this holiday season by not buying into the commercial glut -- in honor of "Buy Nothing Day" give the Christmas Gift Exemption Voucher from the Adbusters website. (Thanks for this link Don!)

Of course if you do feel you want to exchange gifts, give books! Books make great gifts that you can then trade through the year. You can purchase them on-line at Amazon.com. They are currently all set up for last minute shoppers and have gift certificates to boot.

I also got this message from onlineclass.com. I don't know much about these projects and there is a cost, but it might be something to look into: 

"Just before the holidays is a good time to sign up for one of the 3 online projects starting up at OnlineClass in January.

***Blue Ice: Focus On Antarctica*** is a 7-week virtual field trip to Antarctica in which your class studies weather and climate change in a global classroom. Students interview scientists, artists, explorers while tracking weather data and learning about the continent's geology. (grades 4-12)

***The North American Quilt: A Living Geography Project*** starts a 21-week investigation of the continent in January. Each participating classroom will receive a weekly research question, and will collect local information to post on a Web site maintained by professional staff. Watch the "quilt" grow and the geography knowledge expand as schools all over NA work collaboratively. Online experts include scientists, geographers, cultural experts and artists. (grades 4-12)

***Self*Expressing*Earth*** teaches, in nine weeks, the basic principles of ecology through a wide variety of arts activities. Online for teachers and students will be artists and scientists so that help in both areas is always there. The program is moderated by a veteran ecology teacher/artist from the staff of Hamline University's Center for Global Environmental Education. (grades 2-8).

If you'd like to sign up for any of these programs, we are now mailing out teaching guides, so anytime between now and the program-start is a good time to get prepared!

For more information: tbt@onlineclass.com. If you'd like to receive our monthly e-mail newsletter with descriptions of the programs and general info on interactive teaching, let me know.

Please note, there is a cost for participation in these projects to cover moderation and honoraria.

Cathy de Moll, producer

cdemoll@onlineclass.com"