I am glad that you and your students have decided to use this interactive web site to complete your Bearstone book unit.

This page is designed to help you, the teacher, get started on this interactive book unit and work through it successfully and with little trouble. This is what you can find on the Teacher Resource page:
Getting started.
Computer programs needed to complete the unit.
Structure of each unit.
Worksheets for your students.
Overview of Discussions and obtaining Key Codes.
How the online questions work.
Vocabulary
Various resources for you and your students.
Puzzles & Games
Final Reminder

Getting started.
Here are the steps you should follow to help get your interactive Bearstone Unit off to a good start.
1. Read through the entire Teacher Resource page.
2. If possible read the Bearstone book. (You can also read it along with your students.)
3. Review the entire web site. Doing this after you have read the book will help you to better understand the layout of the unit. Become familiar with the layout of the site.
4. It would be a good idea to take a day and "tour" the web site with your students. This will help familiarize them with the site layout, how to navigate the site, and in what order they are to complete the required work. The more comfortable your students are with the technology aspect of this unit, the smoother things will run
5. If possible, obtain the map of the region in Colorado described in the book. All of the locations mentioned in the book are really in the southwestern part of the state. Having this map on hand will help your students complete their own Colorado Maps. You can get the map by contacting Trails Illustrated Maps, P.O. Box 3610, Evergreen, CO 80439-1643. Order map #140, Colorado Weminuche Wilderness. Phone 1-800-962-1643. You can also acquire the AAA road map called "Indian Country." Either speak to your local AAA or order from: AAA, 1000 AAA Drive, Heathrow, FL 32746-5063. (You can find names of locations on Will Hobb's Official Web Site. You will find this link on the "Will Hobbs" page.)
6. Always have a back-up plan! Who knows when a server may be down and you are unable to access some or all of the online resources. Be prepared. Keep offline books and resources handy. (top)

Computer programs needed to complete the unit.
In order to access all of the web site's resources, you will need to have the following programs on your computer. All of them are FREE!
An email address (Is needed to receive student's work.)
     If you do not have an email address, you can get a free email account at Yahoo.
Adobe Acrobat Reader (Is needed to download all PDF files.)
WinAmp (Is needed to listen to vocabulary words.) (top)

Structure of each unit.
Each unit is structured in the same fashion. You can visit "The Bear's Den" for a complete overview of this structure.

As the teacher, you have the choice as to what order the work for each unit is completed. Obviously you will want the reading to be completed first. You can then let students know in what order you want Ongoing Work, Unit Work, Discussion, and Questions completed. I would recommend that you have students complete the Questions as the very last thing for each unit.

Feel free to add additional work and/or modify the current work for each unit. As your student's teacher, you know their needs and abilities the best. You will also want to let your students know what work for the unit will need to be handed in to you.

You will notice on Unit 9, the Post-Reading unit, that students have the opportunity to choose which activities they would like to complete. Based on the individual abilities of your students, you will need to let them know how many activities they need to select and complete.

In the "Various Resources" section below, you will find additional resources that may help with instruction and assessment before, during and after the unit. (top)

Worksheets for your students.
There are several worksheets that your students will need throughout the unit. If you do not want them to print the worksheets on their own, you can provide them with copies of the worksheets. You can download each worksheet below.
Technology Behavior Contract (PDF File) - Described in the discussion section below.
The Guide (PDF File)
Cause & Effect Chart (PDF File)
Character Map (PDF File)
Colorado Map (PDF File)
Chapter Titles (PDF File)
Character Actions (PDF File)
Unit 2 Vocabulary (PDF File)
Unit 3 Vocabulary (PDF File)
Unit 4 Vocabulary (PDF File)
Unit 5 Vocabulary (PDF File)
Unit 6 Vocabulary (PDF File)
Unit 7 Vocabulary (PDF File)
Unit 8 Vocabulary (PDF File)
The Menu (PDF File) (top)

Overview of Discussions and obtaining Key Codes.
For each unit, your students have the opportunity to discuss their thoughts, understandings, and questions related to a specific unit. A board has been established for each unit to help eliminate students learning about upcoming events in the story. It will be important for students to only access the discussion board for the unit they are currently working on. The amount of discussion on the boards will depend on the number of classrooms that are completing the unit at the same time you are.

In order to access a unit's discussion board, students will need to have that day's Key Code. This code is only given to teachers who are completing the interactive unit and will help make the discussion boards a safe learning environment.

There are Discussion Board Guidelines that will always be posted on the boards. Please review these with your students. You may even want to use an informal contract with your students. You can download a simple one here, or create one of your own. Some school districts include message boards and email in their Internet Use Policies. Understand that the contract I am offering here is simply a behavior expectation contract to use within your classroom. Please investigate any school and or district internet policies prior to beginning this unit.

You will need reach me through the "Contact" page to get the Key Codes. This will be a one-time contact for the codes. You will not need to contact me every day. (top)

How the online questions work.
After students have completed all of the assignments for a unit, they will then answer a series of higher-level, online questions. There are specific directions for your students on how to answer and submit the questions on the "Unit 1 Questions" page. (Be sure this page is visited while you are taking a tour of the web site with your students.)

When students submit their answers to you, the email will contain the following: the student's name, the unit number, the questions, their answers, and the actual answers. The majority of the questions are based on Bloom's Taxonomy and will have more than one correct answer, but the information contained within the student's email should help give you an idea of what information their answers should contain. If you would like more information on Bloom's Taxonomy, you can visit a great resource below. (top)

Vocabulary
All but two of the units contain vocabulary words. Along with the list of words, students will find an audio recording of these words. The recording also includes the page number that contains the word. You will need a program that reads mp3's. If you do not have that, you can download WinAmp for free using the link provided above in the Computer Programs section.

It may be beneficial for students to listen to the audio clip prior to and during their reading. There are no set activities for the vocabulary words, so feel free to incorporate them however you see fit. (top)

Various resources for you and possibly your students.
Here is a collection of helpful links.
Additional Bearstone Resource
Here is a PDF file that may provide you with additional ideas to use with the book.
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/pdf/bearstone.pdf
General Rubric Generator
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/general/
How to answer a question using a complete sentence.
/bearstone/units/one/complete.htm
Lesson Plans for Teaching Letter Writing
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson281.shtml
Letter Writing Rubric - Create Your Own
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=NewRubric§ion_id=5&PHPSESSID=5623184a1f3d974db640e90c796a2107#05
Report Rubric
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/reportrub.html
Types of paragraphs
http://www.lessontutor.com/eescw4.html
Paragraph Evaluation
http://home.att.net/~teaching/langarts/paraeval.pdf (PDF File)
Paragraph Rubric
http://www.idecorp.com/teacher/documents/wMilford_arch_pararubric.pdf (PDF File)
Project Rubric Generator
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/project/
(top)

Puzzles & Games
Most of the puzzles will have to be created by the students. They can then print these puzzles out and have friends complete them.(top)

Final Reminder
Don't forget, as you and your students are completing this book unit, you can reach me through the "Contact" page with questions and or comments. And be sure to let me know how your experience went. I am always looking for feedback as to what went well with the unit, as well as what could be modified. (top)