Help Rebuild Communities and Lives
In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Architecture for Humanity, the Bezos Family Foundation and Global Nomads Group have partnered to create a $500,000 matching challenge grant and call to action for middle and high school students and educators around the globe to help rebuild better, safer schools in Haiti. Students create teams that raise funds and partner in the sustained reconstruction effort. Through interactive video, conversations with building professionals and live connections to Haitian students, students will learn firsthand how people can rebuild communities and lives.
Deadline: Ongoing through December 30, 2010
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Engage Students in Innovative STEM Activities
The Motorola Foundation’s Innovation Generation Collaborative Grants support medium- to large-scale STEM education collaborations between two or more nonprofit organizations, schools and/or districts, with joint requests ranging from $150,000 to $500,000. Funding priority will be placed on programs that engage students and teachers in innovative, hands-on activities, teach STEM as well as develop innovative thinking and creative problem-solving skills, focus on girls and minorities that are currently underrepresented in the STEM disciplines, and take place in communities with Motorola employees.
Deadline: April 1, 2010
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Connect with Colleagues
The edWeb is offering an Innovation Grant of $500 to an educator who is using the edWeb to create a professional learning community or to provide professional development for teachers. To apply for the grant, send an email, with your name and the name of your edWeb community, to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . In your email, describe (in 500 words or less) your goals and the purpose for your learning community or professional development program. Your dscription should include how you are using the different edWeb tools to support your community, how you are inviting members to join and how you are providing training on using the edWeb. Also provide feedback on how well the community is working for your needs, along with at least one suggestion for improving the edWeb. Be sure to download the free edWeb User’s Guide for help and ideas using all of the edWeb features.
Deadline: April 30, 2010
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Plus: Join The Big Deal Book of Technology’s “Amazing Resources for Educators” Community on the edWeb to get more frequent updates on grants, free resources and hot new sites for 21st century learning.
Click Here to Join Big Deal Community

Join the growing list of teachers enjoying the eBookDestination Rewards Program. On the first day of each month, a digital coupon (representing 5 percent of your total purchases in the previous month) will be added to your shopping cart. You’ll then be notified via email of the presence (and amount) of this coupon.

There’s no application to complete, no points to collect, no cards to carry, no codes to enter and (most important) no fees to pay. Quite simply, you are repaid for your loyalty with a 5 percent credit toward future purchases. It’s as easy as that!

Browse the eBookstore now! You’ll receive an automatic discount on thousands of ebook titles, many of which are bundled with downloadable audio MP3 files, from major educational publishers. Plus, there’s always a selection of the most popular titles on sale!

Find Solutions for Helping English Language Learners
Sign up at The Big Deal Book Web site for hELLo!, a free monthly ELL e-newsletter that includes information about new grants, upcoming contests, the latest educational research and a wealth of information on interactive print and online resources for students, teachers, librarians, principals and others involved in the education of English language learners.
Click Here to Sign Up for Free Newsletter

Celebrate Outstanding Classroom Media Projects
Every year thousands of students, from across the country as well as overseas, produce media for educational purposes, dramatic use and Web publication. These are then submitted to The International Student Media Festival (ISMF) for judging in categories, including Live Action Video, Sequential Stills, Interactive Stills, Photography, Web Site Design and Animation. The three-day festival features winning entries, in a variety of media categories, shown in a film festival format. Winners attend an awards ceremony where students are recognized for their achievements. After all the festivities, field trips are taken to area amusement parks, museums, local landmarks and other outstanding educational venues. The 2010 event will take place in Anaheim, California, October 28–30, 2010. Download the free Entry Guide from the ISMF Web site.
Deadline: March 1–June 1, 2010 for submission of entries
Click Here for More Information

Show How You Inspire Your Students
Whether you teach your students physics with rocket launchers, social studies by reenacting historical events or literature by inviting students to create digital stories, you are innovating and making a difference, and PBS and your local public television stations want to recognize you by inviting you to enter the PBS Teachers Innovation Awards. To enter, simply submit a video clip or photograph showing how you inspire your students. The 10 most innovative teachers will win a behind-the-scenes trip to the PBS Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas on May 17–20, 2010 to see sneak previews of programs, meet producers and attend premier events. Winners will be announced April 5, 2010, and winning entries will be featured on the PBS Teachers Web site.
Deadline: March 12, 2010 for submission of entries
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Explore Rights Protected by the First Amendment
U.S. middle and high school students are invited to compete for $10,000 in prize money in the “First 5 in My Life” Video Contest, which explores the five rights protected in the First Amendment. The contest is administered by the Bill of Rights Institute, in partnership with Channel One, and supported by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.
Deadline: March 15, 2010
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Show How Your School Is Making Great Strides
The White House and the U.S. Department of Education have announced a new Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge and are inviting public schools across the country to compete to have President Obama speak at their graduation. At the beginning of the school year, the President encouraged students across the country to take responsibility for their education, study hard and graduate from high school. The Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge encourages schools to show how they are making great strides on personal responsibility, academic excellence and college readiness. Applications must be completed by students and submitted by a high school’s principal using the Commencement Challenge Application Form. Each school may submit only one application, and high schools must be public to apply. Following the application deadline, six finalists will be selected by the White House and Department of Education. These schools will then be featured on the White House Web site, and the public will have an opportunity to vote for the three schools they think best meet the President’s goal. The President will select a national winner from these three finalists and visit the winning high school to deliver the commencement address to the class of 2010.
Deadline: March 15, 2010
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Stimulate Creative Imagination
The Doodle 4 Google competition invites K–12 students to work their artistic will on the Google homepage logo, exercising their creative imaginations around the theme “If I could do anything, I would ...”. The winning student gets a $15,000 college scholarship, $25,000 to the school for new computers and a chance to have his or her design on the Google.com homepage. This year a group of “Expert Jurors,” well-known illustrators, cartoonists and animators from organizations such a The Sesame Street Workshop, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates and Peanuts and Pixar Animation Studios, will be helping to select the 40 finalist doodles as well as attending the awards ceremony to personally meet the winners.
Deadlines: March 17, 2010 for registration; March 31, 2010 for entries
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Recognize Outstanding Math and Science Teachers
The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) recognize highly qualified teachers for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession. Nominees must teach math or science in a K–6 public or private school and have at least five years’ teaching experience prior to the nomination deadline. Recipients of the award will receive $10,000 each from the National Science Foundation, a paid trip for two to Washington, D.C. to attend a series of recognition events and professional development opportunities, and a citation signed by the President of the United States.
Deadline: April 1, 2010
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Get free unlimited online access to all the print content in The Big Deal Book of Technology for K–12 Educators. Explore the many opportunities to fund your special programs, access timely reports and articles, locate free and inexpensive resources and identify engaging interactive Web sites.

Register online to download the Fall 2009 Big Deal eBook for Educators of English Language Learners. Inside this free eBook, you’ll find links to resources, strategies, best practices and interactive Web sites to engage your English language learners. You’ll also find a rich variety of funding sources to bring sustenance to your programs.

Teach Free Enterprise Through Contracts and Commerce
With the online lesson entitled “Labor History: Hardballs and Handshakes,” from the American Labor Studies Center, you can use your students’ interest in baseball to teach them about collective bargaining by examining the history of labor relations in America’s Pastime. The contract between Major League Baseball’s owners and players expires on December 11, 2011, and some serious bargaining will soon be under way.
Click Here to Access Free Online Lesson

Create an Inclusive Learning Experience
Atomic Learning’s free ebook entitled Integrate Assistive Technology in General Education: A Quick Reference Guide is intended for any teacher or administrator seeking to level their classrooms for all students. The ebook covers the necessary steps for implementing assistive technology, such as creating a common vision, understanding the roles of each participant, developing key skills, providing ongoing support and understanding how it all ultimately impacts students.
Click Here to Access Free E-book

Expand Your Professional Expertise
Teachscape is offering teachers, administrators and instructional leaders access to free professional development content through its Module of the Month Club (MOMC). Each month registered members will have unlimited access to one selected module from the Teachscape XL library, which is comprised of high-quality online teacher professional development resources, including an array of text, videos and interactive elements. The following modules are featured as part of the MOMC Spring 2010 schedule:
* March 2010: Adolescent Literacy: Addressing the Challenge
* April 2010: Talking about Texts
* May 2010: Linear Equations
* June 2010: Teaching Strategies for Content Instruction
MOMC members will receive an email on the first of each month announcing the newly selected online course and how to access it using a username and password provided by Teachscape.
Click Here for More Information

Explore STEM Careers
The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center is an ever-expanding resource for anyone interested in exploring career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, computing and healthcare. Students can explore more than 185 degree fields and find out about education requirements, salaries, networking, precollege ideas and career planning resources. They can also browse interviews with hundreds of professionals who offer candid insight into their own diverse careers. Most resources are also accessible as free downloadable PDFs, PowerPoints and podcasts.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Broaden Girls’ Participation in STEM
Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ON THE AIR! is a radio series for young girls, young women, parents, middle and high school teachers, college professors, guidance counselors, researchers, organizational leaders and anyone interested in learning more about the past, present and future role of women in science and technology education, fields and careers. Listen to stories about fascinating women working and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields; and learn about programs and practices throughout the U.S. designed to broaden the participation of women in STEM.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Send Girls on a Cool Science Adventure
In The Adventures of Josie True, students learn about math, science and history as they join Josie on her mission through time and space to save her inventor-turned-teacher, Ms. Trombone. Episode I: 20th Century includes more than 11 cool science, math and technology games in this Internet adventure for girls. Check out the free, downloadable Teacher’s Guide with lesson plans to accompany each game. Episode II: Josie in Ancient Egypt is in development!
Click Here to Access Free Games

Get Math Help from an Expert
Former hedge fund analyst Salman Khan now devotes his time to providing free online help for students who are struggling with math. In an NPR interview, Khan talks about his nonprofit enterprise, Khan Academy, which now has 1,200 short instructional math videos posted on YouTube that are accessed freely by an estimated 100,000 students each month.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Plus: View the NPR interview with Khan and/or read the transcript online.
Click Here to Access Interview

Go on a Virtual Wildlife Field Trip
Students are learning about wildlife, biology and other subjects through firsthand accounts and field reports provided by researchers and scientists on Field Trip Earth, a Web site created by the North Carolina Zoological Society. The Web site provides a type of virtual field trip where students read articles and view photos and videos.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Explore New Worlds—Read!
For the first time in its history, the U.S. Library of Congress has a space devoted to the reading interests of children and teens in its historic Thomas Jefferson building. The new Young Readers Center, a project of The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress opened in late October. The Center also oversees the Read.gov Web site, which provides reading resources especially for children and teens, as well as for adults, educators and parents. A highlight of the site is the exclusive episodic story called “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure,” a joint project with the National Children’s Book and the Literacy Alliance. Every two weeks a new episode and illustrations appear. Some of the nation’s top authors and illustrators for young people are contributing their work to this project.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Plus: Investigate the “Exquisite Corpse” Prompt Writing Contest. Two new writing prompts will be available each month through June for readers of “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure.” Winners in four grade-level categories will be selected for each prompt. Prizes include online publication at Reading Rockets and AdLit.org, autographed books and classroom visits with authors and illustrators via Skype.
Click Here for More Information

Help Students Navigate the Internet Safely
Disney has teamed with Common Sense Media to help children and ‘tweens safely navigate the Internet and other digital platforms and to get parents thinking about how media and technology fit into their family’s life. The initiative includes a Web site that features the characters from Disney’s animated series “Phineas and Ferb” and supports Common Sense Media’s “Rules of the Road” for smart and safe use of digital media. The tips include guarding privacy and protecting one’s identity while online, balancing time spent in cyberspace and thinking before texting or posting material online.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Learn About the Social Context of the Civil Rights Movement
The International Civil Rights Center & Museum is an archival center devoted to the international struggle for civil and human rights. The museum, which recently opened in Greensboro, North Carolina, celebrates the nonviolent protests of the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins that served as a catalyst in the civil rights movement. The museum is located in the former Woolworth building in which four 17-year-old freshmen at the all-black Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina arrived on February 1, 1960, sat down and ordered some food; and when they were refused because they were black, the four students continued to sit in mute protest. The original portion of the lunch counter and stools where the four students sat on February 1, 1960, has never been moved from its original footprint. Under the Explore History link on the Museum’s Web site, you will find the Greensboro Chronology (events and people), a timeline of the Sit-In Movement as well as a timeline of America’s Civil Rights.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Retrace the Fight for Equal Rights
On March 7, 1965, hundreds of civil rights supporters attempted a historic 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. They were protesting laws that prevented African Americans from voting in Alabama, but they were stopped and attacked by police shortly after starting. On Sunday, March 21, about 3,200 marchers set out again. When they arrived in Montgomery on March 25, there were about 25,000 protesters from around the country who completed the march. Retrace the marchers’ steps by answering questions about the fight for equal rights on this TIME for Kids Web site.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Plus: Invite your students to fill in the gaps of several excerpts of the speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Then watch the YouTube video of Dr. King delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech.
Click Here to Access Cloze Activity
Click Here to View Video of Speech

Check out the new look of The Big Deal Book Web site. And be sure to explore the Web Wednesday feature, which offers resources and activities for integrating technology into your classroom. Here you’ll find new interactive experiences and resources that incorporate 21st century themes and skills into the study of core subjects.

Also explore the EarTHursday feature, which offers intelligent approaches to “going green” in your classroom. You’ll find interactive ideas that will help you encourage your students to weigh in and take action on some of the biggest environmental issues in our world today.

Appropriately named, these features change mid-week, every week!