Webspiration Wednesday: Sleedo

Today, I am doing something a little different for Webspiration Wednesday.  As a staff, we still gathered for Webspiration Wednesday finishing the Guy Doud video from last week.  Since I have already summed that up in this post, I thought I would write about a webspirational website instead.  Sleedo is a great Webspiration Wednesday website.

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What it is: Sleedo is a search engine that I learned about from @cspiezio today on Twitter.  This is a search engine with a mission to better the world with each and every search.  Every time you search using Sleedo, 10 grains of rice will be donated to help feed the poor.  Sleedo is a Google powered search engine.  Sleedo makes money through advertisements and donates that money to the World Food Programme, feeding those in need.  So, for every search you do, you are helping improve the lives of people around the world.  Pretty cool right?

How to integrate Sleedo into the classroom: Set up Sleedo as your homepage on classroom computers.  When students perform searches, they can be doing double duty: searching and helping the hungry around the world.  Sites like Sleedo are wonderful vehicles for teaching students about empathy, world issues, and compassion.  Have your students dig in and learn more about how the World Food Programme operates or take a closer look at how website advertising works.

Tips: I have found that students are passionate about websites with a cause (Free Rice, Free Corn, Aid to Children, Free Kibble, Free Kibblekat). Often students feel helpless to do something important that makes an impact on this world.  Sites like Sleedo help students enact real change that they can feel proud of.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Sleedo in your classroom.

Newseum

What it is:  Newseum is a neat way for students to see the news from around the country.  Front pages of newspapers from around the US are displayed on a map.  Scroll over the map and the front page of the newspaper pops up.  Click on a different country to display newspapers from around the world.

How to integrate Newseum into the classroom:  Newseum is a great site to visit for current events.  This is a great way to find out what is happening state to state or around the world that is news worthy.  Have students compare and contrast front page events around the country or around the world.  Is there a particularly news worthy subject that seems to pop up in multiple states, multiple countries?   Newseum could be a great discussion starter about newspapers, should they be saved or will they eventually be totally replaced by the Internet?  Use Newseum each morning to get an update of current events using an interactive whiteboard.   Have students choose 3 or 4 states or countries each day to check on (also great geography  practice).  This site is like a virtual field trip around the world for newspapers.  

 

Tips:  Because these are actual front pages from around the country, some material may not be appropriate fo your students.  Always preview before you let your students loose! 

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Newseum in your classroom.