February – National Children’s Dental Health Month

Anita Beloat — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 05:19:53 +0000

Smile! Dental health care is associated with more than just brushing and flossing. The Florida Dental Association serves Florida with information regarding oral health care, access to dental care, as well as dental education. They also provide access to curriculum on their web site on current topics for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade.

Middle school students will be captivated by the some of the topics that dominate their world today. Curriculum has been developed by this organization on topics such as Oral Piercing, Soda Consumption, Smokeless Tobacco, and Mouthguards. Each unit contains a lesson plan, presentation, activity and an assessment that helps students understand the effects and dieseases that affect their health.

Curricular topics for elementary students are also available. Topics such as Meet Your Mouth, Let’s Talk Teeth, The Plaque Attack, Tips for Terrific Teeth, and A Trip to the Dentist Office contain lesson plans along with reproducible worksheets.

Both elementary and middle school resources address the Sunshine State Standards “Health Literacy.”

Additional activities for Dental Health Month are located at:
- Apples 4 the Teacher contains dental health information and activities for elementary students.
- The American Dental Association has classroom ideas and activities available for teachers. Access their Smile Smarts! dental health curriculum for preschool through grade 8 students. Don’t forget to explore dental careers with your middle and high school students!

Using “Verizon Thinkfinity” to Access Health Materials

Anita Beloat — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 19:45:29 +0000

Teachers will be amazed at the easy-access of health materials right at their fingertips! Verizon Thinkfinity has enlisted content partners from respected organizations who contribute to each academic subject and literacy. All activities are grade-specific and are aligned to the state standards.

Locate classroom-ready lesson plans and other online materials that you can quickly integrate into your classroom curriculum. Many lesson plans contain student activity sheets and resources that can easily be printed and used with students. Assessment ideas and extension activities are also a helpful ingredient in most lessons.

Science NetLinks is a vital partner of the Verizon Foundation and contains standards-based lesson plans that incorporate reviewed Internet resources. Each lesson is written for the teacher, but includes student-ready materials such as student activity sheets that can be copied or E-Sheets which are online worksheets that enable students to work directly in the designated Internet activities.

**Try YOUR hand at locating health resources from Science NetLinks. Follow the instructions below:**

Open your Internet browser and navigate to the Verizon Thinkfinity web site by typing www.thinkfinity.org into the address line.
In the search box, type the word, virus, and click Search.
In the list of Search Results, scroll down and click on the Science NetLinks lesson entitled, “Viruses/Infectious Diseases: What’s Really Bugging You?”
Read through the activity and access the student activity sheets.
Locate the Benchmarks and Resources Links to the left of the page.

Each lesson within this site contain a well-balanced selection of materials that can be easily accessed and used!