Professor Garfield


Welcome to Professor Garfield!      

 

http://www.professorgarfield.org/pgf_home.html 

 

What is Professor Garfield?

     

     The Professor Garfield Foundation is a Not-For-Profit Organization that is designed to help facilitate education to those who learn differently. The website is meant to be used as a tool to supplement classroom cirriculum and can help students in both elementary and middle school. The focus of Professor Garfield was originally on language aquisition and usage in early grade levels, but the website has expanded to encompass more subjects and a larger audience. There is an emphasis on vocabulary, phonemics, fluency, comprehension and phonics, with a wide variety of activities and tutorials that encourage learning in a fun way.

 

Who is Professor Garfield's target audience?

 The initial phase of PGF is focused on K - 3 with emphasis on reading and writing skills. Over time, the site will incorporate the areas of science, mathematics, and other core areas, first at K -3rd grade level, and systematically expanding thereafter to encompass grades K - 8. The audience and depths of education expand as more students and teachers utilize the website and share their lesson ideas. The content of the website will be state standards-based with the intent to include lesson plans, activities, classroom ideas, and incorporate assessment methodologies. All of this is accomplished through the use of one of America's favorite cartoon characters, Garfield.

 

  

 

How did Garfield, become Professor Garfield?

     As the legend has it, Garfield had ventured to a land called Switzerland with his friends John and Odie for a vacation. They were there to visit the cheese making farms, but also to see the home of Albert Einstein. While John and Odie explored the apartment, Garfield snuck under the ropes of a restricted section near the chalkboard where Einstein first wrote his famous equation E=MC2. Garfield stumbled across another equation, K=P but couldn't make out any meaning, until he put on a pair of Einstein's glasses and was transformed into Professor Garfield. It was then that he understood the equation K=P to mean KNOWLEDGE = POWER.

 

What can I find on the Professor Garfield Website? 

http://www.professorgarfield.org/sitemap/site.html Professor Garfield Site Map

     The Professor Garfield Website is broken down into various activities, tutorials, and interactive games based on a student's grade level. There is also information on scholarship opportunities for post-secondary education and career assessment tools for older students. The activities included on the Professor Garfield website are Reading Ring, Art Bot, Music Bot, Transport to Reading, G-Cubed, Knowledge Box, Sleep Center, Brain Busters, Toon Book Reader, SparkTop.org, Mrs. P.com, and a Comics Lab.

     Reading Ring: Go 5 rounds against Dr. Stripp, who loves to scramble things. In this activity, students must first unscramble three frames from a comic strip in order to correctly tell a story. Then they must answer two out of three questions correctly to win the round. When a student wins three out of five rounds, they become a World Champion Word Wrestler and can print out their own personalized wrestling belt buckle.

     Art Bot: Learn how to draw with the Garfield Cartoonists. Students can choose the artist and the subject of the tutorial, then they can follow along as they learn how to draw from a professional. Closed captioning is provided.

     Music Bot: Garfield's musical robot sings songs about geography, grammar, and being different from your peers. Closed captioning is available.

     Transport to Reading: Students can choose between phonics related activites on Garfield's Island or Orson's Farm. Activities include matching and story book readers with optional closed captioning.

     G-Cubed: This page is where students interact with other Professor Garfield registered users or they can choose to play against Professor Garfield himself! In this trivia game, students select the difficulty level and answer questions based on the given categories. In the third round, the student gets to choose their opponents category in order to stump them!

     Knowledge Box: Students select their grade level and educational topic. There are various tutorial videos and games that help support common classroom themes.

     Sleep Center: Students learn about the importance of sleep by helping save the world from aliens who won't let anyone rest, or slingshotting sheep over a fence to help Garfield catch some ZZZs!

     Brain Busters: Students can practice vocabulary and grammar through word searches and code busting.

     SparkTop.org: This interactive website encourages students to share their videos, writings, and music with other students across the country.

     Mrs. P.com: This website brings to life a story book reader where students choose the story being told.

     Comic Lab: Students make their own comic strip using their favorite Garfield characters. They can watch tutorials on comic strip making, save their work, and even print their own comic strips!

     

 

How can teachers use Professor Garfield? 

      Materials included on the Professor Garfield site are developed and reviewed by educational experts who have the best interests of students and educators in mind. Every attempt is made to label activities with the appropriate levels, educational standards, and learning goals. In many cases assessment tools, which can be used both by the student and by the teacher, are also offered for activities. Educators will find that the literacy activities and resources are targeted to meet the criteria of evidence-based reading instruction. The Teacher's Lounge is also equipped with a Kid's Content area that discusses how the teachers can incorporate and use this site in the classroom. Printable PDFs covering lesson plans, activities, word walls, etc. are available for most of the grade levels being taught.

     Teachers can also greatly benefit from the Creative Applications section of the website. This area allows teachers to see how other educators are using Professor Garfield in their own classrooms. Electronic Field Trip information is given from BSU, which supplies teachers with in class activities that follow along with live broadcasts

 http://www.PGFteach.org Teacher's Lounge 

 

 

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

 

http://Sparktop.org Spark Top Website

     This webpage is an interactive website run by the Professor Garfield Foundation that connects students who have various learning styles through different educational mediums. Students are encouraged to register in order to share their videos, music, and writings with other students. All information is kept completely confidential and there is no sharing of personal information like on other social media networks. Originally created by Schwab Learning, the Professor Garfield Foundation has taken over care of the website and expanded its educational use. Registration is completely free and

 

http://mrsp.com  Mrs. P. Website

     This webpage uses youtube videos as a story book reader. TV actress Kathy Kinney brings to life the character Mrs. P. and students can choose what book she reads!