http://weblist.me Weblist is a free interactive and dynamic content sharing site. You don’t even have to register to create a weblist, although I would, because it gives you more control after your weblist is created. What is a weblist? A weblist is a list of anything you want on the web. You can include pictures, videos, documents, web pages, files and texts in your weblist. For example, if you know some great Texas History resource sites you’d like to share with your students, you can create a list of those sites. Instead of sharing multiple links with your students, you simply send them one single link, to your weblist. Here is an example that 4th Grade teacher Leighanne Parrish created. Just click on one of the icons and it will take you to that specific website. At the top of your internet browser you will then see a green navigation bar with all the resources from your weblist!
Another neat feature of the site is that you are able to search weblist.me for already created lists or you can browse the “Education” section for lists of resources created by teachers and students. Now, what you're going to weblist is up to you! Here are some ideas that may help...· 4th Grade – Have students use the Texas History weblist above for research.· 3rd Grade – Create a list of websites for patterns and upload various pictures of patterns.· 2nd Grade – Upload place value sites and videos for students to practice on and watch.· 1st Grade – Upload place value sites and videos for students to practice on and watch.· K – Create a list of websites that show students about technology and how it’s used in everyday life.
ELL – www.Strivney.com- Strivney is a free, interactive, English program for teaching children to read using phonics. Over 1,000 interactive, animated, online English exercises, presentations and games teach children to read whilst having fun.
Language Arts/Reading – www.MightyBook.com – use Mighty Book next time you want to read a story to your kids. Mighty Book comes with animated stories, songs, and poems. There are also some lesson plans available for you.
Social Studies – Scholastic.com’s Thanksgiving website. There are a variety of resources including Lesson Plans, Videos, Books and other resources for your Thanksgiving Day teaching moments. For an overwhelming list of Thanksgiving Resources visit this site.
Math – www.XpMath.com - XpMath has a host of games for lower level like Whole Numbers: Addition Block and higher level math like Finding Perimeters of Parallelograms. Many of the games would work great with a MOBI! For those of you doing Translation, Rotation and Reflection, check out this fun way to incorporate animation using DoInk, I think 2nd graders and up could handle creating this. Let me know if you want to do it in the lab and I’ll help lead it!
Science – BBC Science Clips – BBC’s education website is great. If you’re looking for some fun/engaging interactives that involve forces, motion, and energy look no further than this site. If you have a MOBI in your classroom they are even more fun. Look on the left had side of the page for your grade’s age-level.
Photovisi is an online photo collage creation tool. Students can use saved photos or a webcam to add pictures to their collage. The finished result can be downloaded and printed out. Photovisi is exceptionally easy (I truly believe even Kinder could handle it, with the right preparation) to use and requires absolutely NO sign in or registration! This makes it the ideal online tool in my book. Students can get right in and quickly create a photo collage, add text, and download it. There are several collage templates to choose from, and each template is highly customizable. Here is an example of using Photovisi to display the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly. Thanks to @ktenkely at iLearnTechnology for sharing this resource.
How could you use this tool in the classroom? You’re the experts, but here are a few ideas.
4th Grade: Students build a collection of geometric shapes in 2-D and 3-D form and find real life examples of congruence and symmetry in pictures (all the pictures are housed in the 4th grade folder on the data drive). To top off the Photovisi students label the product. TEKS – Math 4.8 & 4.9
3rd Grade: Create a Photovisi centered around Friction. Collect images for Friction (I can help) and some images that don’t show friction. Have students add the friction photos to the Photovisi as well as label the product. TEKS – Science 3.6B
2nd Grade: Students create a visual timeline with pictures. Have presidential photos available for students to choose from and have them order the presidents chronologically by date in office. Students can then put the president’s name and years they served below. TEKS – Social Studies 2.2A,B,C,&D/2.4
1st Grade: Collect pictures of weather related items and have students insert them into the Photovisi and label them. TEKS – Science 1.8A
Kindergarten: Students create two Photovisi’s, one with 3-D shapes and one with 2-D shapes. TEKS – Math K.9
http://livebinders.com/ Using Live Binders you can post videos, pdfs/docs, images and webpages into a binder or structured website that allows simplicity in organization and ease of use. It might also make a good choice for Digital Portfolios of Student Work. Here is an example to see what I’m talking about… Context Clues. As you can see, this LiveBinder is full of resources for context clues. LiveBinders is also searchable, meaning any LiveBinder that has been created can be viewed and used by you. Oh yeah, did I mention it was free!How could you use this tool in the classroom you might ask?
4th Grade: Texas History LiveBinder – Have students create a LiveBinder with web and your own resources for your class to use in a research project. – SS TEK 4.13rd Grade: Context Clues LiveBinder - Collect a group of links for Context Clues including interactive resources to integrate MOBI’s. – LA TEK 3.4B2nd Grade: Timelines LiveBinder – Research and assemble resources for creating timelines. – SS TEK 2.21st Grade: Subtraction Resources LiveBinder – Upload demonstration videos and weblinks where students can learn and practice subtratction. – Math TEK 1.3 A,BKindergarten: Weather Unit LiveBinder – Put together a weather unit LiveBinder where all teachers can share weather resources. The example LiveBinder uses Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs as the main theme for the binder. – Science TEK K.8
http://www.wondersay.com/
Wondersay is a really simple and fun idea. With Wondersay, you can use any simple sentence or twitter account to generate a cool animation! Wondersayings are easy to create, customize and share. No software programs to download (it's all online), no sign-up or passwords (save them by copying the link or embedding them in your website), and all for free. Look at the example below to see a Wondersay.
Now, what you're going to wondersay is up to you! Here are some ideas that may inspire you...
- 4th – Have students define different types of measurements and embed them on your webpage for reference.
- 3rd – Have students write about their favorite celebration around the world and share the links on your webpage.
- 2nd – Students practice past tense verbs in the computer lab, typing in the past tense of whatever verb the teacher prompts them with.
- 1st – Students share their favorite Holiday tradition and why it’s their favorite.
- K – Student practice their typing skills by typing their name.
Here are a few other, more personal ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
http://ed.voicethread.com/
With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world, all with no software to install. Click here to see an example or just look below. A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too. Users can doodle with a mouse or MOBI while commenting, use multiple identities, and pick which comments are shown through moderation. VoiceThreads can even be embedded (see below) to show and receive comments on other websites and exported to MP3 players or DVDs to play as movies.
How could you use this tool in the classroom you might ask? Here is a link to a TON of ideas, but here are a few that come to my mind…
- 4th Grade – Have students create a collaborative timeline of European Colonization including notable figures and economic reasons why they left Europe. SS TEK 4.2, 4.11
- 3rd Grade – Students collect pictures of holidays and traditions from around the world and narrate and comment on the slideshow. SS TEK 3.12(a,b), 3.14(a,b)
- 2nd Grade – Have students work together to create a book study and generate questions from the text. LA TEK 2.3(b)
- 1st Grade – Teacher creates a holiday cultures and traditions VoiceThread and has students respond with voice (via microphones) and text (typing). SS TEK 1.15(a)
- Kindergarten – Teacher creates family traditions VoiceThread from information gathered from students. Students respond to the VoiceThread with voice, text, and doodles! SS TEK K.12
What is Storybird? Storybird is a service that uses collaborative storytelling to connect kids and families. Students can create a story all their own, or two (or more) people can create a Storybird in a round robin fashion by writing their own text and inserting pictures. They then have the option of sharing their Storybird privately or publicly on the network. The final product can be printed (soon), watched on screen, played with like a toy, or shared through a worldwide library. Check out this link to see a created Storybird and you can read more once you"re at the website.
You start by creating an account. Kids can have accounts too, they just need to register here and type your email address in the section that says Your Parent"s Email Address. You"ll then receive an email that they"ve signed up and you"ll confirm it. Now the student has an account. They can now create, collaborate and view stories. To create a story, students become inspired by existing artwork submitted by many talented artists (students can"t import their own pictures). They can explore artwork by just looking through the gallery, navigating by artist, or search art sorted by theme, such as: dancers, swimming, woods, and many others. Below is a screenshot of the interface that the students use to create their story... really simple and easy. Students simply drag a picture to the page and type the text underneath or to the side. Once they"re finished the book is created and can be viewed online.
Ideas for you:
Kindergarten- Students create a Storybird involving penguins and other animals. - TEKS LA- K.14 (A)
1st Grade - Students create a quick fact guide about different animals. - TEKS LA- 1.18 (A)
2nd Grade - Students write a persuasive story about what these cartoon characters are trying to convince the audience of. - TEKS LA - 2.20
3rd Grade - Students write a story about cartoon heros from this artist. - TEKS LA - 3.17 (E) & 3.18 (A)
4th Grade - Students create a story of a little girl and the friends she accumulates throughout her journey using this artists work. - TEKS LA - 4.20 (A)
Personal - create a story with your child as the main character. Lisa Monthie, the Intermediate Instructional Technologist, has done this and said her son loves it.
Picnik is an online photo editing website that is similar to a software program like Adobe Photoshop. Although, Picnik has a variety of advantages over a program like Photoshop. Advantages include: saved hard drive space (because it"s web based), quicker processing time, easier to use tools (stamps/stickers/frames/text), updated themes according to the time of year, linking capabilities to sites such as Flickr, Photobucket, MySpace, Facebook, collage templates, and the fact that it"s FREE (although there is an upgrade option)! This could be a great tool to use in your classroom or just at home. Below are some ideas of how you could incorporate this tool into your technology lessons.
How do you sign up for Picnik??? YOU DON"T HAVE TO! You can actually just go to their website and start editing. Upload a picture from your computer or a photo sharing site and begin.
Ideas for you:
Kindergarten- Create a Holiday Postcard using the stickers and holidays feature; TEKS - Social Studies K.12 (A,B,C)
1st Grade - Create a picture storyboard with the Collage section of Picnik and then write a story about it; TEKS - LA 1.18 (A)
2nd Grade - Use the Collage feature to put a series of book events (you"ll need pictures) in chronological order; TEKS - Social Studies 2.2 (B,C)
3rd Grade - Upload pictures of each Planet and make a Show (cool presentation feature in Picnik) putting the planets in order; TEKS - Science 3.8 (C)
4th Grade - Students find pictures of Geographic factors (such as animal life), edit the pictures, and create a collage that correlates that Geographic factor with it"s influence on Economic activity (ranching and hunting); TEKS - Social Studies 4.13 (B)
Personal - Create a Holiday Greeting Card
What is Animoto? Animoto is a web application that produces videos from user-selected photos, video clips and music. Click on this link to see an example. Animoto analyzes the provided photos, video clips and music, automatically generating a movie trailer-like video with them.It is very simple and straightforward, but looks as if a professional created the presentation. Students drag and drop pictures, text, and video into the appropriate spot, change some effects, choose their music, and Animoto puts it all together. Click the picture below to see an example.
Ideas for you:
Kindergarten- Have images of pre-selected customs and holidays (example July 4th and fireworks). Students upload the photos and label the pictures.
1st Grade - Students create a Past, Present, Future presentation about Transportation. Upload pre-selected images of different forms of transportation such as Walking, Sled, Horse, Car, etc...
2nd Grade - Students create a "Parts of the Body System" presentation using pre-selected images available in their teacher"s folder.
3rd Grade - Organize different pictures of States of Matter within Solids, Liquids, and Gases.
4th Grade - Food Chain System Example above
What is Wallwisher??? Wallwisher is an Internet application that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily. A wall is basically the "web page" where people actually post messages. What is Wallwisher good for? One of the main uses I would envision it for is "Checking for Understanding" or "Reflection." When I teach a concept I try to incorporate some sort of reflection at the end. I"ve seen reflections done many ways, journals, post-it notes, skits, banners, collages, raps and rhymes, etc... With Wallwisher every student can reflect and respond to the prompt you set. It"s sort of like sticky notes on the web. After students respond they can add a link for a picture, website, audio, or video to their statement. Students don"t necessarily need to come to lab for this either (although they can), they could respond throughout the day on student computers in the teacher room.
Another idea for Wallwisher is for students to work in groups and collaborate on a project. Wallwisher would allow students to research a project independently, but conglomerate all of their ideas and resources in one place. I can also see teachers using this for things like Grade Level Projects, School Supply list ideas, Curriculum Collaboration, etc... This is not just a student tool!
Wallwisher is very simple to use. Students don"t need email accounts and you don"t even really need an email account, although it"s helpful. Another bonus.... it"s free; there"s not a sign-up version and a subscription version, it"s all free. The wall creator also has the ability to control what is and isn"t put on the wall. Below is a screen shot of an example Wall or just go to www.wallwisher.com/wall/hansentest to see if you can add a fact about our Solar System successfully and try it out yourself.
Ideas for you:
Kindergarten- Teacher Prompt: What are the parts of a camera, bus, etc..? Students post their answer, plus find a link to a picture of that "part of the whole" on images.google.com.
1st Grade - Teacher Prompt: Give one fact about Veterans Day. Students post their answer, plus find a link to a picture of that "part of the whole" on images.google.com.
2nd Grade - Teacher Prompt: What is one form of modern communication and when was it used? Students post their answer, plus find a link to a picture of that "part of the whole" on images.google.com.
3rd Grade - See above screenshot for example.
4th Grade - Teacher Prompt: What characteristics identify Fish? Amphibians? Reptiles? Birds? Students post their answer, plus find a link to a picture of that "part of the whole" on images.google.com.
.jpg "comic")
Students love reading comics, there is something about the interaction with a comic that makes even struggling readers willing to try. Many times the same is true with writing. Students who struggle to write dread writing out a story or series of events after reading a book. Introduce a comic and suddenly those kids who don’t like writing are writing full stories.
Piki Kids Comic Creator is an online comic creator specifically designed for students. Students can upload pictures from their computers, or search for images to use in their comic strip. The comics are very flexible so students can make them uniquely their own. Students can choose the number of panels, the look of the panels, color choices, and much more. When students are finished creating their online Piki Kids comic they can save them, print out them out, and leave comments in response to their classmates comics. Piki Kids is a great way to develop a student"s higher level thinking skills.
Students will need a login and password. The easiest way to do it would be for you to create an account and just have your students login as you (it would in no way be tied to your Midway email account). We also have individual student email accounts available this year if you would prefer to do it that way, just let me know.
Ideas for you:
Kindergarten- create a comic about living and non-living things
1st Grade - tell a story about Veteran"s Day and why we celebrate it
2nd Grade - students take you on a journey through the circulatory and respiratory systems
3rd Grade - tell Harriet Tubman"s story and explain the Underground Railroad
4th Grade - create a biography of one of the Early European Explorers such as: Christopher Columbus, Cabeza de Vaca, etc...
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/science/sciencebootcamp.htm
This is a Science website based out of England, but is applicable for 7-11 year olds in the United States. There are approximately 150 interactive activities for students to do involving Science on this website. The database is broken into groupings such as, Food Chains, Plants, Life-Cycles, etc... and each have 7 or 8 links to other interactive websites that deal with those topics.
Ideas for you:
3rd Grade - Day 9 - States of Matter - students would read, play a game and take a quiz over States of Matter
4th Grade - Sorry, no Fossil activities, but... Day 12 - Soil Properties - students learn how different properties of soils affect how water drains through them
What is Virsona? Virsona is a tool that gives students and teachers the ability to create and "chat" with historical or fictional characters. I would envision it being used to research historical figures or talk with fictional characters. Instead of looking up information on that historical figure, students can actually "ask" the figure about themselves. To see an example visit this link to chat with Abraham Lincoln. If you set up an account (it"s free and easy) you, or your students can create other Virtual historical figures as well or even a virtual you! I would even be willing to put in the information for a historical or fictional figure if you just get it to me.
Here is a link to a great lesson plan for Virsona. This particular lesson would probably be easier in 3rd or 4th grade class. Students first research a Virsona that is already created and then they research their own figure and create a Virsona for that person.
Ideas for you:
Kindergarten- Students talk with a Ladybug to find out information about it, specifically it"s life-cycle. TEKS Science - K.5(B)
1st Grade - Students chat with Thomas Edison to investigate his inventions and how they shaped the world. TEKS Social Studies - 1.1 (B)
2nd Grade - Students talk with "Money" to find out about the free-enterprise system. TEKS Social Studies - 2.9 (B)
3rd Grade - Students speak with a famous scientist such as Jonas Salk to find out what makes him so famous. Then students research a famous scientist of their own and create their own Virsona. - TEKS Science - 3.3 (D)
4th Grade - Students chat with Sam Houston to find out why he is a significant historical Texas figure. They then research another historical Texas figure and create a Virsona for that person. - TEKS Social Studies 4.18 (C)
Your personal website! BLOG Feature on Schoolwires
Students love to look at their own creations whether it be drawing, building, or even writing. Start off the new year using the Schoolwires (our website system) page feature called BLOG. A blog is basically an online journaling system or a Web-Log. Teachers can set up a blog for students, other teachers, or even parents. Common uses for a school blog are writing prompts, reflections, and surveys. Blogging not only helps students with their writing and reading skills, it also lets the student express themselves in a way they cannot do in class sometimes.
It"s fairly easy to set up a Blog Page. You can have one of your fellow comrades help you, or if you"d rather me just come help you set it up it will take 10 minutes max. For a great example of using a Blog in your classroom checkout Kim Hardin"s Class Blog. Her students latest Blog entries had to do with how we can conserve and clean our water in the Hewitt area. Keep in mind, this activity doesn"t have to be long. In fact, many times blog posts are a paragraph or less.
Ideas for you:
Kindergarten- Have students blog about their favorite custom associated with a specific holiday TEKS - Social Studies K.1 (B)
1st Grade - Give students a choice of a system (car, flashlight, airplane, etc...) and have them blog about how that system works TEKS - Science 1.6 (C)
2nd Grade - Students record their observations and measurements of a specific object using the blog feature TEKS - Science 2.7 (A)
3rd Grade - Students can alphabetize a series of words within their to at least the third letter and then define them using a blog post TEKS - LA 3.4 (E)
4th Grade - Have students blog a reflection on "Why the Spanish established Catholic Missions in Texas." TEKS - Social Studies 4.2 (C)
Other- Create a blog post where parents can post questions about the class.
ABCYa is a website that is basically a database of fun, interactive, and educational games for students at the K-5 level.
The great thing about ABCYa is that all the games are played within the ABCYa website, none of the games link to outside websites. There are some games that are better than others. I would definitely preview certain games that you see fit, because there are a few that probably don"t challenge the student like you would want it to. Most of the games are geared toward Math, LA, and Art. Check it out, find a few that you like, and let your kids have fun while learning. Many of these games would also be great to use with the Mobis located in the Library!
Ideas for you:
www.PrimaryPad.com
Primary Pad is a web-based word processor designed for schools that allow students and teachers to work together in real-time. To look at, take part in and get ideas CLICK HERE. Feel free to add to this Primary Pad.
The site is very easy to use and can be great for students and teachers of all ages. There are lost of customizable options, such as changing a users text color or making a document private. Another useful tool is the Timeslider. The Timeslider tool enables users to slide through the history of the document. They can do this manually or by hitting play, and watching the history of the collaboration develop. Primary Pad also offers several formats to save your document including HTML, PDF, Microsoft Word, or Plain Text.
How Does it Work? 1.) Go to www.primarypad.com 2.) Click Create a Public Pad 3.) Give students the URL that is created for your Primary Pad or embed the pad into your website (really easy, that"s what I did here, let me know if you have questions on how to do that) 4.) The student types in their name, Primary Pad assigns them a color, and they start typing in the Word Processor. Students will be able to see what other students type in real time.
Note: Primary Pad would be easiest to use in the lab, but not necessary. You would also want to go over expectations (language, content, etc...) for the Primary Pad. If a student abuses the privilege, you can take it away.
Kindergarten- Students type what their favorite animal is and include one characteristic about that animal. TEKS - Science K.6 (C)
1st Grade - Students type their favorite historical figure and two facts about each figure.TEKS - SS 1.2 (A & B)
2nd Grade - Students work in small groups to develop food chains from certain environments.TEKS - Science 2.9 (C)
3rd Grade - Students work in small groups to write an imaginative story on their own, then post it to Primary Pad. Other groups proof read and edit using Primary Pad.TEKS - LA 3.17 (D & E) 3.18 (A)
4th Grade - Give students a sheet with examples of different types of transformations and have them guess in small groups what type of transformation it is. Students type their answers in Primary Pad and give reasoning to their conclusion.TEKS - Math 4.9 (A)
FOSSWeb is the official site for the inquiry-based FOSS (FULL OPTION SCIENCE SYSTEM) science curriculum. A place for support, resources, and fun activities. The site is broken into sections for K-2 and 3-6. Within these two sections there are various modules on topics ranging from air and weather to solids and liquids. Each module contains interactive activities, videos, images, external links to relevant websites, and a teacher resources section with all sorts of great stuff. Below are two screenshots for you to see the different modules available in the K-2 section and 3-6 section.
Ideas for You:
Kindergarten: In the Plants and Animals module use the MOBI and have have students identify different parts of the plant using their interactive resource. TEKS Science - K.10(B)
First Grade: Check out the Teacher Resources > Duplication Masters section of the Insects and Plants module for various printouts including diagrams of a plant and mealworm resources. TEKS Science - 1.9 & 1.10
Second Grade: Check out the Teacher Resources > Duplications Masters section of the Trees module for various printouts including parts of a tree printouts. TEKS Science - 1.9 & 1.10
Third Grade: In the Structures of Life module use the MOBI and have have students order life-cycles of different animals using their interactive resource. TEKS Science - 3.9
Fourth Grade: Look into the Teacher Resources > Duplications Masters section in the Air and Weathermodule for printouts including a Weather Journal including sections for seasons, wind vanes and anemometers. TEKS Science - 4.6
You may have already heard of this website , but it"s got some valuable tools you may want to revisit if it"s been a while. This is a site that works to help teachers integrate technology into their classrooms by offering online tools and resources. It is easy to locate online resources such as ready-to-use Web lessons, quizzes, rubrics and classroom calendars. There are also tools for student use. The 4Teachers Family of Tools is a nice place to start looking for simple technology solutions for your students.
4Teachers Tool Ideas for You:
- RubiStar is a free tool to help teachers create quality rubrics. (I"ve personally used this tool many times. It"s very easy to use and creates a quality rubric you can save as an Excel File).
- QuizStar is a Web-based quiz maker that enables you to create, administer and automatically grade your quizzes online! With QuizStar you can: manage classes and quizzes, attach multimedia files to questions, make quizzes in multiple languages, access from any Internet-connected computer, allow students to complete and review.
- TrackStar is your starting point for online lessons and activities. Simply collect Web sites, enter them into TrackStar, add annotations for your students, and you have an interactive, online lesson called a Track.Click this link for a teacher example of an American Revolution TrackStar.
- Arcademic Skill Builder - research-based and standards-aligned free educational math games and language arts games will engage, motivate, and help teach students.
- The Equity Index - The Equity Index is a searchable database designed to locate resources and tools to help you meet the needs of a diverse classroom. Find lessons or information for persons with special needs, disabilities, and language learners. Also find essentials on including persons of various races, religions, and cultures into your community.
There are many other 4Teachers Tools available at their website, I just included some that I thought were more pertinent to you all. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like help incorporating this site into your lessons.
