Remembering the troops
Pear Tree Greetings is launching Operation Gratitude with a goal of sending 75,000 cards to men and women in the military this holiday season. (See illustration above.) The company will send a free package to the first 2,500 teachers who sign up, with up to 30 cards per classroom. Visit http://gratitude.peartreegreetings.com for details.
Making connections
Edutopia's latest free resource guide, Home-to-School Connections Guide: Tips, Tech Tools, and Strategies for Improving Family-to-School Communication, is filled with resources and ideas for building and strengthening the bonds between schools, families, and communities.
Designed for educators and parents, the guide provides tools for seizing the digital moment or bringing the conversation home through 10 top tips for nurturing collaboration and partnerships.
You can download copies at www.edutopia.org/home-to-school-connections-guide.
Now hear this
Free audio books are available from the non-profit website LibriVox.org. Volunteers record books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net.
Some recent additions to the lengthy catalog include The 1840 Journal of Lewis and Clark, and Volume 5 of Les Miserables.
Archive awards available
Teachers and librarians are encouraged to apply for an award to pursue research using the resources of the New York State Archives.
The Larry J. Hackman Research Residency program supports product-related research in such areas as history, law, public policy, geography and culture by covering research expenses. Awards range from $100 to $4,500.
Projects beneficial to primary or secondary students are eligible. The deadline is Jan. 15.
For information and application forms visit www.nyarchivestrust.org; call 518-473-7091; fax 518-473-7058; or e-mail hackmanres@mail.nysed.gov.
Computer freeware
While most of its business involves marketing and maintaining Internet domains and e-mail services, Tucows also offers a variety of free software at its tucows.com website. Click on Freeware to see what's available.
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