Category: Social Studies

Mindomo

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What it is: Mindomo free web-based mind mapping tool that delivers the capabilities of desktop mind mapping software in a web browser with no software to install or maintain. Students can create, edit, and share mind maps with teachers and other students.

How to integrate Mindomo into your classroom: Students can use Mindomo to create mind maps for all subjects. Students can create character diagrams, comparison charts, story diagrams, vocabulary word diagrams, timelines, effect of events, experiment maps, food pyramids, scientific processes, life cycles, and more. This tool will be valuable for your visual learners!

Tips: Students have to sign up for a free account to use Mindomo they will need a email address to complete registration process.

 

 

Our Timelines

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What it is: Our Timelines is a free web tool that lets teachers and students create and print timelines. Students can click on any entry in an already created timeline that is underlined as a link to a page that provides additional details on the event.

How to integrate Our Timelines into your classroom: Allow students to create timelines on Our Timelines. The timelines can be a 5 to 140 year span. Students fill in the time period, the event description and the event type. Students can also see a timeline of events that happened on their birthdays. This is a great resource for teaching kids about timelines and visualizing history. Use for history lessons, literature timelines, personal timelines, etc.

Tips: Be sure to click the printable check box in the timeline form so that the timeline can be printed.

 

 

Planetfesto

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What it is: Planetfesto is a website dedicated to creating an Internet ribbon large enough to stretch around the planet. Students add their own six inches to the ribbon by creating a simple panel expressing their love for the Earth and a pledge to change something small in their life that might affect the earth.

How to integrate Planetfesto into your classroom: Planetfesto would be a great Earth Day activity for the classroom. Students can create their own tribute to the planet (on paper and scanned in or in a graphics program) or choose a picture from the site that demonstrates how they view the planet. Students then type a paragraph about why they love the planet and their pledge to personally protect it. There are some ideas for students to choose from for their pledge.

Tips: Your students will be proud to be part of the “bigger picture” with this ribbon that wraps around the world. Students can share their work by using Planetfesto’s search feature.

Planetfesto has been nominated for an Edublog Award!!  Vote for them here.  Congratulations Planetfesto!

 

 

Secrets @ Sea

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What it is: Secrets @ Sea is the worlds first online ocean adventure learning game. This curriculum based adventure story is targeted for 4th through 7th grade students. The engaging website game complements ocean-theme units of study and enhances students learning experiences using the Internet. Student play the starring role of “Ace”, assistant investigator to Paula Pacific, who is assigned to examine unusual behaviors noticed in killer whale populations in the Alanamorris Strait. As Ace progress through the story, s(he) must successfully complete a number of ocean-related learning activities. The knowledge gained from completing these activities leads the student to the solution of the case.

How to integrate Secrets @ Sea into the classroom: There are four main ocean themes to complement units of study, marine mammals and food webs; salmon, herring and plankton; tides, oceans and mapping; and features of the ocean floor, currents. Individual sections can be completed during a typical classroom computer lab session (30-45 minutes), or all sections can be played together in a longer session. Students can work through the site individually or with the entire class, in partners, or in small groups.

Tips: Visit the Teachers Guide for an overview, introduction, important features, a break down of chapters, learning outcomes, technical specs, extension activities, and engaging science.

 

 

Inspired Learning

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What it is: Inspired learning is a collection of lesson plans and ideas for using visual software such as Inspiration, and Kidspiration in the classroom.

How to integrate Inspired Learning into your curriculum: Use Inspired Learning for ideas and lessons to integrate visual software into the classroom. If you don’t already have visual, mind mapping software, you can download Free Mind open source (free) software to use with the lessons and ideas.

Tips: Click on the Educators Resource page on Inspired Learning for a free trial version of Inspiration and Kidspiration.

 

 

Airtight Interactive

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What it is: Airtight Interactive is a Flickr connected program that allows students to search a word and see various other words associated with the initial word.

How to integrate Airtight Interactive into your curriculum: Use Airtight Interactive to build word maps for association. When students are given a new vocabulary word, they can create a map using software such as Inspiration with a definition, synonyms, antonyms and the word used in a sentence. Airtight will give students a starting point to understand how words are associated.

Tips: Be sure to search words that students will search before letting them loose on Airtight Interactive. Because Airtight is Flickr connected, pictures aren’t always school appropriate.

 

 

Glossopedia

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What it is: Glossopedia is a site for second to sixth graders about animals, plants, and the environment. Glossopedia offers multimedia tools and programs to teach students.

How to integrate Glossopedia into your social studies curriculum: Invite students to fill out a graphic organizer (like a KWL chart) using Glossopedia to introduce a new subject. Allow young students to use Glossopedia to learn basic web search skills.

Tips: Visit the educators page to download great learning activities.

 

 

I Know That Social Studies

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What it is: I Know That Social Studies is a site that encourages students to learn geography and how to use maps through games and activities. Activities include clue maps, label maps, puzzle maps, and pushpins maps.

How to integrate I Know That Social Studies into your social studies curriculum: Use I Know That Social Studies as map practice. Students can practice geography with the puzzles, and label maps. This is a wonderful site to use in preparation for quizzes!

Tips: I Know That has some advertisements on its site, these can be removed by purchasing a subscription. I use the sites advertisements to teach my students about how to spot ads on a website and to teach why some sites have ads. Check out the teachers guide for each game and activity for some great ideas.

Knowledge Bears

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What it is: Knowledge Bears (www.kbears.com) is a site dedicated to learning and fun for kids. It offers students information about animals, dinosaurs, geography, space, science fair projects, weather, farms, and underwater animals. This interactive site is a good place for learning to start!

How to integrate Knowledge Bears into your curriculum: Use Knowledge Bears to introduce a new concept…invite your students to fill out a graphic organizer such as a KWL chart while they explore. Knowledge Bears is also wonderful for teaching the basics of research. Primary elementary students can use knowledge bears for a research project. I play Knowledge Bear Jeopardy with my students when I am teaching them how to navigate the internet (use links). Separate your class into teams (each team needs a computer or group of computers, I use a projector for the Jeopardy game board) then play Jeopardy, the first team to find the answer on Knowledge Bears gets the point. The kids love this activity and it is a wonderful way to teach research skills.

Tips: Let kids explore this site on their own…they will love it! Download the Jeopardy activity from here: kbears jeopardy.ppt or kbears jeopardy.key.zip